· 88 comments · Save ·
News & Current Events Mar 30, 2026 at 6:53 PM

Israeli parliament approves the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis

Posted by Deep-Rabbit1535

Israel's parliament approves the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis
AP News
Israel's parliament approves the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis
Israel’s parliament has passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, a measure critics condemn as discriminatory and inhumane.
🚩 Report this post

88 Comments

Sign in to comment — or just click the box below.
🔒 Your email is never shown publicly.
Ecsta Mar 30, 2026 +258
If it's not applied equally to all terror charges then the Israeli Supreme Court is going to squash it. > It also gives Israeli courts the option of imposing the death penalty on Israeli citizens convicted on similar charges — language that legal experts say effectively confines those who can be sentenced to death to Palestinian citizens of Israel and excludes Jewish citizens. The article is terribly worded. I wish it would just post the direction translation.
258
reiner74 Mar 31, 2026 +84
You're right, this article is terrible. Here is the direct translation of that passage: "Whoever intentionally causes the death of a person with the aim of negating the existence of the State of Israel, under the circumstances stated in subsection (a)(10), is liable to death" And [here](https://fs.knesset.gov.il/25/law/25_ls2_12185958.pdf) is the full law in hebrew
84
EI_TokyoTeddyBear Mar 31, 2026 +42
How does this exclude Jews from the law?
42
Fleamm Mar 31, 2026 +11
The part that says “with the aim of negating the state of …”
11
threeme2189 Mar 31, 2026 +25
How does this exclude Jews? There are Jews that are against the existence of Israel.
25
smeeagain93 Mar 31, 2026 +20
Just from the excerpt here, this doesn't mean it excludes Jews. It's just unlikely that there are going to be Jews that match the criteria. I am sure you can find at least some Jews being against the existence of Israel, the question is whether or not they are also radical enough to kill someone over it.
20
mattsaddress Mar 31, 2026 +12
There are entire sects of ultra-orthodox Jews who are against the modern state of Israel.
12
lokoluis15 Mar 31, 2026 +3
Just like all laws, it comes down to enforcement. Even in the US, guess who gets mandatory minimum sentences written in law, and who gets to make an affluenza defense.
3
valiumandcherrywine Mar 31, 2026 -4
Israeli settlers killing Palestinians aren't doing it with the aim of negating the existence of the State of Israel, so that's fine. Apparently.
-4
dumcow2003 Mar 31, 2026 +5
Its not, but its a separate issue, that is equally bad but will have to be dealt with differently
5
debordisdead Mar 31, 2026 +1
Ok. Well, why not simply draft a law that deals with it on an equitable basis, as opposed to an inequitable one? An equitable one at least would have a chance of not being struck down by the supreme court, while this one is pretty much DOA.
1
dumcow2003 Mar 31, 2026 +6
Because this government is full of populists Also because Palestinian terror is much more accepted in israel as a thing Im Israeli so I dont care if they'll kill anyone who goes inside israel to kill Jews I think that's our right, and personally I dont think those terrorists need to stay alive. But, the violence and the rhetoric in israel today is a problem, we are getting radicalized the same way Palestinians are, this is dangerous and quite frightening really.
6
debordisdead Mar 31, 2026 +3
Sure, but you see the problem: no Palestinian terrorists are going to be executed under this law, not a single one, because it has been drafted in such a way that the supreme Court will obviously strike it down. That could have been avoided if the bill was simply drafted with the intention of being equitable.
3
dumcow2003 Apr 1, 2026 +2
Ben gvir is a dumbass populist that why it was drafted this way Thats why you shouldn't let religious zealot government roles
2
debordisdead Apr 1, 2026 +3
You won't catch me disagreeing. I've said elsewhere, this seems like it was deliberately engineered so Itamar can say "look how those far leftists in the courts mistreat us, they're calling our obviously unconstitutional law unconstitutional!" In any case, we are surely in agreement. Itamar doesn't even really care about this bill, he just wants to slander the courts by any stunts he can.
3
DiscipleOfYeshua Mar 31, 2026 +3
It’s ultra right winger psycho junk. Even the people pretending to support it know it’s not going to fly. Just a distraction for them to poke whenever the public gets upset about other junk they’re doing, like the recent embezzlement (“allocation”) of millions to fund ultra right wingers who avoid public duties and employment.
3
lingeringneutrophil Mar 30, 2026 +106
Israel has not executed anyone since Eichmann. This law passed with 48 votes against it (62 for) and will no doubt face huge hurdles before it becomes a thing
106
basicalme Mar 30, 2026 +117
I think people were very displeased that Sinwar was incarcerated, had a brain tumor treated while incarcerated which saved his life, released, and then he planned oct 7.
117
reiner74 Mar 31, 2026 +12
Just FYI, this law wouldn't apply to him even if it existed back then, and is not gonna apply to the perpetrators of October 7th.
12
the_amazing_skronus Apr 1, 2026 +1
No it won't. Everything has changed now.
1
MJ420 Mar 30, 2026 +515
And surely also for Israelis mudering Palestinans, right?
515
FedBySheep Mar 30, 2026 +228
From the article: "It also gives Israeli courts the option of imposing the death penalty on Israeli citizens convicted on similar charges"
228
Disused_Yeti Mar 30, 2026 +136
"option" being the operative word
136
I_Am_Vladimir_Putin Mar 30, 2026 +69
Every law is an option. 
69
Life_Principle1671 Mar 30, 2026 +5
Option no, house arrest. Time off for good conduct, circle of life 
5
reiner74 Mar 31, 2026 +54
That is a bad translation. It says it can be imposed on Palestinian citizens of israel. Here is the translated passage: "Whoever intentionally causes the death of a person with the aim of negating the existence of the State of Israel, under the circumstances stated in subsection (a)(10), is liable to death" This law basically says "Courts MUST execute Palestinians convicted of anything we define as terror, without needing a super majority". The makers of the law were directly asked if they would execute jew terrorists (like Baruch Goldstein for example), and they either said no or avoided the question. [Here](https://fs.knesset.gov.il/25/law/25_ls2_12185958.pdf) is the full law in Hebrew if anyone wishes to see it, it's honestly horrific.
54
DavidKens Mar 31, 2026 +31
First of all, this death penalty is terrible. Second of all no, it’s not anything we define as terror. Baruch Goldstein did not negate the existence of the state of Israel. The problem isn’t that Jews are not subject to this death penalty, it’s that it’s extremely unlikely to ever happen and so the intention behind the law seems clear. But if you found a Jewish non-Israeli Palestinian who worked to negate the state of Israel, they would be subject to it.
31
yuikkiuy Mar 31, 2026 +8
Its a political move to discredit and further reduce power and influence of yhe judiciary branch. They know the Israeli supreme court is going to strike this down. They will then just claim the Supreme Court is pro terrorist etc... to gather more power to the executive branch and remove checks and balances
8
EyeInside7957 Mar 31, 2026 +7
I mean, wouldn't it apply technically if a jew would also commit a terror act against israel? Or if a terror act would be against an Arab citizen? Based on this wording it doesn't seem to single out Palestinians at all. Genuinely asking
7
reiner74 Mar 31, 2026 +2
Against israel - maybe, against a Palestinian citizen - no.
2
rahulthewall Mar 31, 2026 +4
It does not apply to Jewish Israeilis. >The law would only apply to Israelis convicted of murder whose attacks aimed at "ending Israel's existence", meaning it would mete out the death penalty for Palestinians but not for Jewish Israelis who committed similar crimes, critics ‌say. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-death-penalty-bill-palestinian-murder-convicts-faces-vote-2026-03-30/
4
satanlicker Mar 31, 2026 -1
Lol, 0% chance of that ever happening.
-1
yoyo456 Mar 31, 2026
And that's exactly why it was met with so much opposition in the knesset. A former IDF chief of staff basically said that out of everyone in the knesset he's killed the most terrorists and yet he still thinks this is a terrible law.
0
Popular_Kangaroo5446 Mar 30, 2026 +53
The law sets hate-crime murder of a citizen by a non-citizen as punishable by death by default, alterable under certain situations. For citizens who commit murder, the motivation seems to have to be “with the attempt to harm the state of Israel”. It seems, since i can’t actually find the text of the bill, that if a Jewish citizen murdered an Arab citizen, the prosecution could try to argue that the crime targeted the Arab part of Israel’s cultural identity.
53
Loves_buttholes Mar 30, 2026 +129
This law does not apply to Jewish settlers. This a military law, and only Palestinians living in the occupied territories are tried under military law - settlers are tried under civilian law. So the text of the law doesn’t apply to them whatsoever 
129
Popular_Kangaroo5446 Mar 30, 2026 +24
As I said, there is a section on military courts and one on citizen courts. Citizens murdering non-citizens is not covered by this law, rather by the general murder law. However, citizens murdering citizens can be covered if it is “with the intent to harm Israel”, something I think is vague enough that it could Jewish extremists attacking Arab citizens. All of that is assuming the Supreme Court doesn’t strike it down, which is still a strong possibility.
24
Loves_buttholes Mar 30, 2026 +7
Oh ok I guess I misunderstood your comment - the terms citizen and non-citizen tripped me up
7
lingeringneutrophil Mar 30, 2026 +1
I bet the Supreme Court will wipe its butt with this
1
Pabus_Alt Mar 30, 2026 -11
The word used it "nationalistic intent" not "hate". So *political* killings, although the circles do overlap. Israel has an "Arab" component to its self-defiend cultural identity? It tolerates the existence of Arab citizens, just so long as they don't mention the "P-word"
-11
rotem11 Mar 31, 2026 +11
Hey, im from israel. Nope. The upbringer of the rule is ultra right wing and will never let it harm his own terrorists. A lot of people here also have an issue with that, I want the same law I apply to hamas terrorists that killed my friends to be applied on a settler that killed an arab in his home.
11
UmbralPhoenixSangre Apr 1, 2026 +1
Bearing in mind that the courts trying those accused will be civilian courts for most people, unless you're living in the occupied areas, then it will be military courts. There is no dispute in the language of the law as to who it targets: Palestinian terrorists (and I actually mean Palestinians who wish to use terror tactics against any citizens of Israel, regardless of ethnicity/faith/etc), so don't ever think those of Itamar Ben-Gvir's ideology will face equal punishment for their actions. What makes it worse is that Ben-Gvir has been demanding this since he became Minister for National Security. The man who proudly defends Jewish extremists for attacking Palestinians who aren't even involved in plots or attacks against their neighbours; the man who, in 2025, openly advocated not only for the new President of Syria to be assassinated, but also the assassination of members of the Palestinian Authority and the arrest of Mahmood Abbas if the UN continues to recognise Palestinian statehood. I thought treating others as you'd like to be treated was something universal, even found in the Torah. Seems I was wrong.
1
Starmoses Mar 30, 2026 -4
If you read the article you'd know the answer is yes.
-4
reiner74 Mar 31, 2026 +11
If you read the law and listened to the politicians who made it you'd know the answer is no.
11
Starmoses Mar 31, 2026
"Whoever intentionally causes the death of a person with the aim of negating the existence of the State of Israel, under the circumstances stated in subsection (a)(10), is liable to death" That's the wording of the law, it applies to all regardless of ethnicity or nationality.
0
CompetitiveSort0 Mar 31, 2026 +2
It's just a big happy coincidence that it will almost certainly never apply to the demographic that wrote the law then? Arguing the law doesn't care about ethnicity is disingenuous. Breathtakingly so. Yes obviously it doesn't mention ethnicity but when is killing a Palestinian or an Arab going to be seen as something that negates the state of Israel?
2
Starmoses Mar 31, 2026
You realize arabs make up 30% of Israel's population right? So if a jew decided to launch a terrorist attack killing dozens of Arab Israelis, do you really not think they'd use this law?
0
ModsFromSteam Mar 30, 2026 -77
nah, why would they? They don't believe in death penalty culturally. Only were forced to implement it for terrorists because of Palestinian hostage taking policy
-77
MJ420 Mar 30, 2026 +30
So, one set of laws for Jews and another for Muslims?
30
MeanwhileInGermany Mar 30, 2026 +7
18,1% of Israelis are Muslims.
7
xmuskorx Mar 31, 2026 +36
daily reminder that Palestinians Authority has their own death penalty (including for selling land to Jews).
36
killembud Mar 31, 2026 +9
Hey you know those guys were constantly telling you are evil? Well now were more like them
9
MagicBoyUK Mar 30, 2026 +2
How about Israeli's murdering Palestinians? That's a far bigger problem.
2
origami_anarchist Mar 30, 2026 +45
They don't get convicted. Recently, they don't even get arrested and charged.
45
Upset-Witness2206 Mar 30, 2026 -30
Non citizens murdering citizens will be treated differently in a country than a citizen. Israeli law is not designed to protect civilians from another state over their own, just like every other country in the world. Also I don't know why you think there are more Israeli citizens murdered Palestinians than the other way around?
-30
maestrita Mar 30, 2026 +34
If you murder someone in most of the world, the penalty is the same regardless of their citizenship.
34
reiner74 Mar 31, 2026 +8
Because it's true, look up the stats from the last 3 years. This law also pertains to Palestinian citizens of israel, and making it look like "another country" is also disingenuous, since the West Bank is de facto controlled by Israel.
8
AdInfamous6290 Mar 31, 2026 +1
Wait… another state? Are the Israelis finally conceding that Palestine is a separate state?!
1
PleaseStayStrong Mar 30, 2026 -1
That is a logical conclusion to any murder.
-1
OnePilotDrone Mar 30, 2026 -8
What about the thousands of Israelis murdering Palestinians in the West Bank and stealing their land as we speak?
-8
TheBonerJam Mar 30, 2026 -48
I’m not saying I agree with the decision (I don’t). But this is exactly the headline that the anti-Israel crowd is looking for. 3 ppl in the comments and probably millions more who just read the headline and don’t go further into the article. Literally says: “The law makes the death penalty — by hanging — the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted for nationalistic killings. The law also gives Israeli courts the authority to impose either the death penalty or life imprisonment on its own citizens. It is not retro-active and will apply only to future cases” This law is dangerous and empowers the wrong people. At the same time, the reasoning is because the Israeli citizens taxes shouldn’t have to pay for terrorists in jail. And because terrorists deserve the death penalty in most cases. Like many things in the ME, I don’t know what the right answer is. But this isn’t a decision on a minority group. That’s like saying Idaho has the death penalty, but only for blacks. It’s factually incorrect
-48
HitMeWithYourFStop Mar 30, 2026 +112
No that’s like saying Idaho has the death penalty automatically for black people, but under the right circumstances it can be an option for white people too. And do you think that scenario will ever actually pan out in practice? Do you know how many settlers have been prosecuted for killing Palestinians since the start of the decade? 0. How many IDF soldiers do you think have been prosecuted for extrajudicial killings?
112
WTFwhatthehell Mar 30, 2026 +79
You're complaining the other posters are just being hateful towards Israel but it sounds like they've pretty much got it right. They've created a category with harsher punishments that will only ever be applied to Palestinians.
79
OnceIWasKovic Mar 30, 2026 +24
>And because terrorists deserve the death penalty in most cases. Well, in this case just against Israelis. But Israeli settler terrorism / killings / extremist violence against Palestinians aren't subject to these new laws and would get imprisonment at most. Edit: >Like many things in the ME, I don’t know what the right answer is. But this isn’t a decision on a minority group. Well, at the least, a fairer law would be that all persons who commit a nationalistic killing or terrorism would get the death penalty whether they are tried in Israeli or Military Courts, under the same criteria and same access to whatever resources and legal representation. But that would never happen lol
24
siorge Mar 30, 2026 +38
Nooooo, no chance this will be abused to hurt Palestinians. Just like the US death penalty isn’t skewed towards black people
38
TheBonerJam Mar 30, 2026 -28
This is my point. You can argue that the judicial system is flawed and mistreats Palestinians. But you can’t say they approved the death penalty for Palestinians when it applies to everyone. Terrorists. They can be Lebanese, Iranian, ultra Orthodox Jews, Americans. The AP knows exactly what they are doing
-28
Beautiful-Tackle8969 Mar 30, 2026 +22
Your own post says that the death is the default punishment for Palestinians convicted of certain crimes but optional for Israeli citizens that commit similar crimes. That’s definitely not equal treatment under the law.
22
OnceIWasKovic Mar 30, 2026 +10
>But you can’t say they approved the death penalty for Palestinians when it applies to everyone. Terrorists. They can be Lebanese, Iranian, ultra Orthodox Jews, Americans. Well, they don't apply to everyone. They don't apply to any terrorist act. Just the killing of Israelis to harm the state of Israel. How many Settlers or Ultra Orthodox Jews kill other Israelis to harm the state of Israel? >The AP knows exactly what they are doing You're right. A better headline would be "Israel passes discriminatory hard-line terrorism laws"
10
PedanticPerson Mar 30, 2026 +1
If you want to complain about some Jewish suspect who was unjustly let off, fair enough, complain about that. I’m sure some bias exists in prosecution. But let’s not misrepresent what the laws are and pretend that there are literally different laws for different religions.
1
allchokedupp Mar 30, 2026 +8
In your opinion, which groups are most likely to be labeled terrorists? Which groups have been labeled terrorists historically with no evidence? Americans? Really? Lol. Just because it is disguised in judicial neutrality doesn't mean its intention is neutral lol
8
TheBonerJam Mar 30, 2026 +6
Firstly, I wonder if you’re insinuating that Hamas & Hezbollah have zero evidence of terrorism. Second, I’m not arguing the law is just. It baffles me that people can’t comprehend the consequences of presenting a biased headline as fact. You know it might potentially lead to that thing Jews are always worried about…anti-semitism. I detest this law and it better not go through. I also detest the way major media is able to release controversial headlines without penalty
6
Pintsize90 Mar 30, 2026 +4
>”…language that legal experts say effectively confines those who can be sentenced to death to Palestinian citizens of Israel and excludes Jewish citizens.” Curious why you left off the second half of the sentence you quoted from the article. Sounds to me that, according to legal experts, I absolutely CAN say they approved the death penalty for Palestinians…. Because Isreal really likes killing Palestinians
4
TheBonerJam Mar 30, 2026 +1
Because it is an opinion. If we keep reading, we also see that it’s not fully enacted yet either. It just passed the far right-wing Parliament who are influenced by many bad actors that undermine Israeli interests. This headline makes it seem like they are going to hang ppl in the streets tomorrow (where do they do that again?). Keep reading: “The legislation, which says it will take effect in 30 days, is certain to face legal challenges that may stall its implementation. Minutes after the bill passed, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel said it had already petitioned Israel’s highest court to challenge the law. It called the legislation “discriminatory by design” and said the parliament had enacted it “without legal authority” over West Bank Palestinians, who are not Israeli citizens.” It is actively being fought against by the Israeli Supreme Court and at least half of the population. Meanwhile, Oct 7th has been justified and praised by a vast majority of Palestinians and the supporters of the Islamic Regime. One is a democracy, with checks and balances, while the other is territory run by terrorists. What type of due process do they have in Gaza, or Tehran, or Yemen?
1
Pabus_Alt Mar 30, 2026 +15
There is a pretty clear distinction between "must be applied unless there is a significant mitigation" and "can be applied in extreme cases" based on nationality. That's straight up racist. Also if Israel don't want to bear the tax burden of occupation... They should not continue that occupation. The choice to maintain a military presence in the West Bank is a *choice*. They could order them to pull back and tell the settlers to get back on the right side of the border.
15
Orpa__ Mar 30, 2026 +8
They can just call everyone they detain a terrorist and you will gobble it up because terrorist deserve the death penalty don't they.
8
PedanticPerson Mar 30, 2026 +6
This would be following a conviction in court, not just somebody claiming somebody is a terrorist.
6
Admiral_Ballsack Mar 30, 2026 +7
This feels like an intentionally obtuse way to frame it. Let's say there's a group who is either perceived or actually more likely to do a certain thing. I don't know, let's make shit up: black people are more likely to smoke crack vs white people more likely to do blow. You go "who smokes crack will be hanged, but we're not racist, we'll hang white people too, in the unlikely scenario where they'll smoke crack". This without going into the various questions of whether a court would be more likely to convict a black person (or, say, a Palestinian) rather than a white guy (or an Israeli). So, yes, on paper the law is "for everyone", but one must be all different kinds of stupid to think it's meant to be "for everyone".
7
try_another8 Mar 31, 2026 +3
Yes.... except this is about murder and terrorists
3
arnham Mar 30, 2026 +8
My Israeli relatives mostly stopped caring what the outside Israel anti Israel crowd say. The general sentiment is “they will hate us anyway for being Jews or Israelis”, so why should we listen to them? you already see the usual propagandists claiming that Israel is going to start hanging every Palestinian prisoner to death tomorrow as a result of this law. Facts never mattered to this crowd to begin with. Why should Israelis care what they think? I don’t know what the right answer is either but holding on to terrorists only to release them in hostage exchanges later so they can then go on to kill more Israelis is understandably deeply unpopular in Israel.
8
TheBonerJam Mar 30, 2026 -2
Yea I’m not sure why I care so much in the last couple of weeks. It’s a great social experiment to see what everyone else is thinking, but it’s also scary to see the amount of nonsense reposted. Israel is losing the PR war on their own, but it’s become 10x worse when things like this and a child with cerebral palsy are presented to the world as undeniable facts.
-2
reiner74 Mar 31, 2026 +2
The article making it look better then it is, it is obviouslyonly ment for Palestiniancitizens of israel. Here is the translated passage: "Whoever intentionally causes the death of a person with the aim of negating the existence of the State of Israel, under the circumstances stated in subsection (a)(10), is liable to death" This law basically says "Courts MUST execute Palestinians convicted of anything we define as terror, without needing a super majority". The makers of the law were directly asked if they would execute jew terrorists (like Baruch Goldstein for example), and they either said no or avoided the question. [Here](https://fs.knesset.gov.il/25/law/25_ls2_12185958.pdf) is the full law in Hebrew if anyone wishes to see it, it's honestly horrific.
2
TurbulentArticle6085 Apr 1, 2026 +1
Should be the standard everywhere honestly.
1
trippedonatater Mar 30, 2026 -28
So, does this mean they're going to start holding trials instead of just doing summary executions?
-28
[deleted] Mar 30, 2026 -22
[removed]
-22
[deleted] Mar 30, 2026 -6
[removed]
-6
[deleted] Mar 30, 2026 -3
[removed]
-3
[deleted] Mar 30, 2026 +6
[removed]
6
iwakan Mar 30, 2026 -2
Ironically, once someone is arrested and "in the system", it is harder for Israel to get away with just assassinating them like usual. Too bad optics. But this law solves that problem, they can now kill people by the book as well, and have some semblance of justification in law.
-2
TrueHeart01 Mar 31, 2026 -1
Double standard.
-1
← Back to Board