THE WORLD COALITION AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY CONDEMNS THE NEW ISRAELI DEATH PENALTY LAW, WHICH IT CONSIDERS TO BE BLATANTLY DISCRIMINATORY AND A SERIOUS VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
Statement
STATEMENT
10 April 2026
The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) condemns in the strongest possible terms the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law (5786–2026) recently adopted by Israel.
This law deliberately entrenches discrimination, dismantles fundamental safeguards and blatantly exposes the Palestinian people to arbitrary deprivation of life, in violation of international law. It marks a further step in Israel’s violation of international human rights law and runs counter to the global movement for the abolition of the death penalty.
Passed by the Knesset on 30 March 2026, this law authorises the imposition of the death penalty for acts classified as ‘terrorism’ and empowers military courts in the occupied West Bank to sentence Palestinians – defined as ‘residents of the area ’ – whilst excluding Israeli citizens and settlers from its scope. It removes safeguards, notably the requirement for unanimity among military judges, restricts access to pardons or commutation of sentences, and contains an unprecedented provision requiring executions to be carried out within a limited timeframe.
The Knesset has also introduced provisions allowing anyone who intentionally causes death “with the aim of denying the existence of the State of Israel” to be brought to trial in civilian courts. This measure has rightly been described as creating “a dual and discriminatory legal system based on ethnicity, which exacerbates racial segregation”.
An extension of the death penalty in flagrant violation of international human rights law
Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by Israel on 3 October 1991, protects the inherent right to life and permits the death penalty only under extremely strict and strictly limited conditions. It requires States to progressively restrict its application and guarantees the right to seek a pardon or commutation of sentence. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has made it clear that any extension of the scope of application of the death penalty is incompatible with the Covenant, as “States parties that have not yet abolished the death penalty should commit themselves irrevocably to the complete abolition of the death penalty”.
Furthermore, the fact that the law relies on an overly broad and insufficiently precise definition of ‘terrorism’ raises serious concerns regarding the principle of legality under international human rights law. United Nations human rights experts have warned that this definition is too broad and incompatible with the precision required by international law.
Furthermore, even when the death penalty is imposed, Articles 6(4) and 6(5), read in conjunction with Article 14 of the ICCPR, require the highest level of procedural safeguards. The law systematically undermines these protections. It allows military courts, which may not offer all the guarantees of independence and impartiality, to impose death sentences, allows a simple majority of judges to decide on matters of life and death, and restricts access to pardons or commutation of sentences, which is in direct contravention of Article 6, paragraphs 4 and 5, of the ICCPR. The law further mandates execution within approximately 90 days of the final judgement, which reduces the time available for appeals and post-conviction review and increases the risk of irreversible error.
In doing so, the law facilitates the arbitrary deprivation of life, in violation of international law and in defiance of the strict limits governing the use of the death penalty. It transforms the death penalty, which is a strictly regulated exception, into a procedure devoid of the very safeguards required by international law. The irreversible nature of the death penalty makes these shortcomings particularly serious. Where legal safeguards are weakened, the risk of unjustified execution becomes inevitable.
A system of discrimination against Palestinians, in violation of the principle of non-discrimination and the protection of civilians under international humanitarian law
This law institutionalises discrimination by establishing a dual legal regime in which Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are liable to the death penalty in military courts, whilst Israeli citizens and settlers are excluded from this framework. Such a system is incompatible with the most fundamental guarantees of equality before the law and non-discrimination set out in Articles 2(1) and 26 of the ICCPR. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has clearly established that the death penalty must not be imposed in a discriminatory manner. Where certain groups are disproportionately exposed to the death penalty, this in itself raises serious concerns regarding unequal application under international law.
In the context of an occupied territory, this also breaches international humanitarian law, which prohibits any adverse distinction, including in the administration of justice. The International Court of Justice, in its 2024 Advisory Opinion on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, held that Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory involved discrimination against Palestinians contrary to international law. This law enshrines and intensifies unlawful discrimination in its most extreme form — by exposing individuals to the death penalty. An occupying power must administer justice without discrimination and may not fundamentally alter the criminal framework, except under strictly limited conditions.
In such a system, the risk of being sentenced to death depends not only on behaviour, but also on identity and social status.
Contrary to the global consensus on abolition
The global trend is unequivocal. A growing majority of states have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice, and the international community has repeatedly called for a universal moratorium with a view to abolition. – Israel has voted in favour of United Nations General Assembly resolutions calling for a moratorium on the death penalty since the first vote in 2007, voluntarily choosing to co-sponsor this resolution. However, Israel is not among the states that have abolished the death penalty. Nor has it acceded to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 1966, adopted in December 1989, which obliges signatory states to abolish the death penalty. Consequently, Israel remains among the states whose national legislation continues to provide for capital punishment. Since its creation in 1948, Israel has inherited the laws of the British Mandate regarding Palestine, notably the death penalty, in particular the 1945 emergency decrees which reflect the colonial experience of oppression and repression of peoples under colonial rule. In 1954, Israel abolished the death penalty for ordinary civilian murders, but continued to apply it for crimes related to the pursuit of Nazis, genocide and treason. In 1962, Adolf Eichmann was executed by hanging after being found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. Israel has not carried out any executions since then, but this observation is limited to capital punishment in the strict legal sense, as Israel has never fully abolished this inhumane punishment in its law and continues, in practice, to carry out extrajudicial executions by various means.
The adoption of a new law imposing the death penalty exclusively on Palestinians constitutes a serious escalation of the widespread violations committed against Palestinians, including hundreds of extrajudicial executions. This law will apply solely to Palestinians, thereby revealing yet another facet of the Israeli apartheid regime, since the death penalty will not be applied to an Israeli who kills a Palestinian.
It places Israel in direct opposition to a global consensus based on human dignity, fairness and respect for the right to life.
Our call to action
The death penalty is irreversible, incompatible with human dignity, and its application in this context is also inherently discriminatory. Consequently, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and its partners urgently call upon:
1. The Knesset to immediately repeal the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law (5786–2026)
2. The State of Israel to refrain from carrying out any executions under this law;
3. The Supreme Court of Israel to issue a preliminary injunction against the implementation of the law, to declare the law unconstitutional in its entirety and to annul it; and
4. The State of Israel to comply fully with its obligations under international human rights law and humanitarian law, and to take concrete and immediate steps towards the abolition of the death penalty in law and in practice.
5. The European Union is urged to take immediate and concrete action to oppose and work towards the repeal of this discriminatory law, including by leveraging its political and economic relations with Israel. In particular, the EU should invoke Article 2 of the EU–Israel Association Agreement, which establishes respect for human rights and democratic principles as an essential element of the agreement, and consider appropriate measures in case of non-compliance.
