November 4, 2025 | 03:15 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A parliamentary committee in Israel on Monday advanced a bill suggesting the death penalty for 'terrorists,' explicitly referring to Palestinian detainees. This move was aggressively pushed by the far-right Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The National Security Committee approved a criminal law amendment, which will now be submitted to the parliament for its first reading.
Israel's hostage coordinator, Gal Hirsch, indicated that both he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu support the measure.
Ben-Gvir has threatened the government's survival, stating he would prevent his party, Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), from voting with the ruling coalition if the bill is not passed on Sunday, November 10, 2025.
Although the death penalty applies to a small number of crimes in Israel, the country has been a de facto abolitionist nation. The last person executed was Nazi Holocaust perpetrator Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
A statement from the committee accompanying the bill's explanatory notes asserted that its goal is "to cut off terrorism at its root and create a heavy deterrent."
The statement further proposed: "It is proposed that a terrorist convicted of murder motivated by racism or hatred towards the public, and under circumstances where the act was committed with the intent to harm the State of Israel… will be sentenced to the death penalty – mandatory."
The rule, it specified, "was not optional and without discretion."
The draft also proposes that the death penalty can be imposed by a majority of judges, and the punishment cannot be mitigated after the verdict is handed down.
Hirsch had previously opposed the discussion of the bill due to concerns for the detainees still held captive in Gaza.
"Since the hostages are now in Israel, this opposition is no longer relevant," he said, according to the statement.
He continued, "The prime minister supports this proposal. I consider this law to be an additional tool in our arsenal against terrorism and for the release of hostages."
The bill was originally proposed by a member of parliament from Otzma Yehudit.
"There will be no room for discretion in this law," Ben-Gvir said on Monday, according to the statement. "Any terrorist who is preparing to commit murder must know that there is only one punishment – the death penalty."
Targeting Palestinian Detainees
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry, based in Ramallah, condemned the bill's submission, calling it a "new form of escalating Israeli extremism and criminality against the Palestinian people."
"It is a dangerous step aimed at continuing genocide and ethnic cleansing under the guise of legitimacy," the ministry stated.
On Friday, Ben-Gvir posted a video of himself standing over a row of Palestinian detainees lying face down on the ground with their hands tied, where he publicly called for the death penalty.
The Palestinian militant group, Hamas, condemned the act, saying it "embodies the ugly fascist face of the rogue Zionist occupation and represents a blatant violation of international law."
"We call upon the United Nations, the international community, and relevant human rights and humanitarian organisations to take immediate action to stop this brutal crime," Hamas said in a statement.
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