Partners for Progressive Israel Condemns Israel’s New “Explicitly Racist” Death Penalty Law

Partners for Progressive Israel Condemns Israel’s New “Explicitly Racist” Death Penalty Law

March 31st, 2026 – 

Yesterday, the Knesset voted into law an explicitly racist death penalty bill. The law mandates the death penalty for Palestinians who are convicted of deadly terrorism “with the intent to deny the existence of the State of Israel,” and would not cover ultranationalist violence perpetrated by Jewish citizens of Israel. Instead, this law mandates that the death penalty by hanging is now the default punishment for Palestinians in the West Bank who are convicted of terrorism in Israeli military courts, denies the right to clemency, eliminates judicial discretion, prohibits in-person contact with lawyers and family members, and mandates that the sentence be carried out within 90 days. 

This is a dangerous reversal of Israeli policy, which has been of restraint and even de facto abolition of the death penalty, save in two extreme cases – most recently the execution of Adolf Eichmann in 1962. This law was explicitly formulated in order to create a culture of intimidation against Palestinians, and will be carried out under the military court system, which since the 1980s has overseen only Palestinians charged with offenses in the West Bank, with a 96% conviction rate and an atmosphere of recognized coercion and even torture for Palestinian defendants. 

Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve lives free of state-sponsored or vigilante terror, and Partners for Progressive Israel stands firm in our total rejection of these acts. The institution of the death penalty is neither in line with our Jewish and progressive values, nor is it a pragmatic deterrent against terror, as recognized even by Israel’s National Security Council. This law reflects a further enshrinement of unequal punishment on the basis of national origin – two sets of laws, rules, and sentencing structures for Israelis and Palestinians – in the West Bank, now with deadly effect. Its passage also further erodes Israel’s ability to continue to stand among the international community of nations, and has brought swift condemnation from important allies. 

Partners Executive Director Rabbi Margo Hughes-Robinson said, “On the eve of Passover, this Israeli administration has chosen not to sanctify life, but to codify a racist bill that further entrenches not only Occupation, but the extension of Israeli sovereignty and law directly into the lives of Palestinians. Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve safety, and the institution of the death penalty is no path to achieve that safety, particularly so when it is applied unequally and within a context of further erosion of human rights in the region.”