Death penalty for terrorists passes first Knesset vote

more than 30. Therefore, as those who are in an existential war, we certainly can and must change the law.”

Reacting against the legislation, the Arab Hadash-Ta’al parliamentary faction said in a statement that the bill is “crossing a clear red line as part of Israel’s deterioration into total fascism”.

Attorney General Gali BaharavMiara has voiced opposition to the death penalty, arguing that it does not lead to deterrence.

The only individual ever executed by Israel was Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi architect of the Holocaust. He was hanged in 1962 and his ashes scattered at sea after he was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.

An Israeli court sentenced John Demjanuk to death in 1998 for crimes against humanity while working at different concentration camps. However, Israel’s Supreme Court overturned the sentence in 1993. Israel eventually extradited Demjanuk, who died in Germany while appealing a conviction there.