Justice & Institutions
The death penalty
The death penalty for terrorists should stay in law.
The Knesset passed the law 62 to 47 in 2026. Israel has executed one person since 1948, Adolf Eichmann.
What is at stake
In 2026 the Knesset voted 62 to 47 for a law making the death penalty mandatory for West Bank Palestinians convicted by a military court of a fatal attack. Israel has executed one person since 1948, Adolf Eichmann. A simple majority can repeal it.
The case for
- Murdering civilians should cost the murderer his life. A prison term is not a proportionate answer to a massacre.
- Imprisoned attackers have been freed by the dozen in prisoner exchanges. An execution closes that route.
- The law targets the gravest category and leaves the judge an exit in special circumstances.
The case against
- An execution cannot be undone, and these convictions come from military courts, not civilian ones.
- A penalty that applies to Palestinians and not to Israeli citizens tried for the same act creates two criminal codes.
- The security services have warned for years that executions produce martyrs and revenge kidnappings.
Both sides get the same number of points at comparable length. That is a rule of this site, not a coincidence.
What the next Knesset could decide
The next Knesset can repeal the law, extend it to civilian courts, or leave it alone. The military prosecutor decides when to seek it, and no execution has yet taken place.