New IDF order extends Israel’s new death penalty law to West Bank Palestinians convicted of terror

Israeli soldiers in Beit Furik in the occupied West Bank, 19 December 2024

Noa Shpigel and Yaniv Kubovich report in Haaretz on 17 May 2026:

The commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ Central Command on Sunday signed an order applying the new death penalty for terrorists law in the West Bank.

During deliberations on the law, legal and security officials warned against extending Israeli civilian legislation to the West Bank, particularly when it concerns Palestinians who are not Israeli citizens, as such a move could bring allegations of de facto annexation.

The law was drafted in a way that targets Arabs, and includes a clause stating it applies to anyone who commits an act “with the aim of denying the existence of the State of Israel.” As a result, it is expected to apply in the West Bank only to Palestinians.  The law does not apply to Hamas’ Nukhba force terrorists who took part in the October 7 massacre, who are subject to separate legislation.

Under the order, military courts will be permitted to impose life imprisonment instead of the death penalty if judges find “special reasons” or “special circumstances” that warrant leniency.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said after the law’s approval that “terrorists who murder Jews will not sit in prison under comfortable conditions, wait for deals or dream of release – they will pay the heaviest price.”  National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that “after October 7, Israel is changing the game. In the face of murderous terror, we do not retreat and we do not accommodate – we defeat it.”

In March, the Knesset passed the death penalty law for terrorists. The wording of the law created a distinction that effectively limits its application almost exclusively to Palestinian terrorism, while the ideological burden of proof established in the legislation is expected to make its application to Jewish nationalist terrorism difficult, if not impossible.

The order was approved despite previous warnings by legal officials regarding constitutional difficulties surrounding its application to Palestinians who are subject to Israeli military law in the West Bank.

A legal opinion submitted by advisers to the Knesset National Security Committee said that because the law’s practical effect would apply only to Palestinians and not to Israelis living in the West Bank, it represents “a significant deviation from the cautious policy adopted until now,” under which the Knesset had generally refrained from directly applying legislation to the territory, especially when such legislation concerned “the rights and obligations of people who are not Israeli citizens.”

Justice Ministry representative Lilach Wagner also warned during committee discussions that establishing the death penalty in the West Bank through civilian legislation was “highly problematic.”

This article is reproduced in its entirety