'Israel' advances death penalty for Palestinian resistance operations
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The Israeli Knesset passes a first reading of a bill to impose the death penalty on Palestinians accused of killing Israeli settlers or soldiers in resistance operations.
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US President Donald Trump receives a standing ovation before speaking at the Knesset on October 13, 2025. (AP)
The Israeli Knesset has passed the first reading of a bill that would impose the death penalty on Palestinians accused of killing Israeli soldiers and settlers in resistance operations.
The measure passed 39-16 late Monday night and must pass two additional readings to become law.
The most prominent bill, introduced by Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, mandates that Israeli courts impose the death sentence on Palestinians convicted of what the bill terms "nationalistically motivated murder" of Israelis.
It also allows military courts in the occupied West Bank to impose the death penalty by a simple majority vote rather than a unanimous decision and eliminates the authority of regional military commanders to commute such sentences.
The bill is getting backlash for defining "terrorism" as acts carried out to harm "the State of Israel and the revival of the Jewish people in its land,"
This would apply solely to Arabs who kill Jews, excluding Jewish settlers who kill or injure Palestinians.
Following the vote, Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir stated, “The death penalty law is not only a moral and just step, but also critical to the security of the state."
