The Israeli Knesset on Tuesday evening adopted in its first reading a bill introducing the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners convicted of murdering Israeli citizens. The law was proposed by Knesset member Limor Son Har Melech, and the proposal now goes to committees for second and third reading.
The proposal received a significant majority of votes – 39 MPs voted for it, while 16 voted against it.
After the vote, far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir celebrated the result by handing out candy, expressing satisfaction with the decision, which he said “brings justice to Israeli victims.”
Israeli national security minister Ben Gvir hands out treats as the Knesset passes a bill to execute Palestinian detainees pic.twitter.com/kKLPDyUxdn
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According to the draft law, any person who kills an Israeli citizen out of racial or national hatred, or with the intent to harm the State of Israel and the Jewish people, will be sentenced to death as the only prescribed penalty.
The law also changes the existing legal framework, allowing military courts to impose the death penalty by a majority of judges, rather than unanimously, as was the case until now. In addition, once a judgment becomes final, it cannot be mitigated or overturned.
This proposal caused sharp reactions within Israel and the international community, with warnings that the adoption of the law could further worsen Israeli-Palestinian tensions and represent a serious departure from current Israeli legal practice, which applies the death penalty extremely rarely.
(Vijesti.ba)
