National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced that hanging would be the method of execution for terrorists under the death penalty law instead of lethal injection, presenting a revised outline of the bill during a Tuesday Knesset National Security Committee meeting.
“We’re coming up with the best outline, the most exact one,” Ben-Gvir told the panel. “This formulation is acceptable to the majority of citizens of the State of Israel, whereas at the beginning of the term I was told it was unrealistic.”
The bill passed its first reading in the Knesset plenum in November and must still pass two additional readings to become law. Ben-Gvir has vowed to hold marathon committee discussions to advance the legislation.
Under the new outline, executions would be carried out by hanging under the responsibility of the Israel Prison Service (IPS) and administered within 90 days of a final judgment.
This marks the most significant change from the original version of the bill, which had proposed lethal injection as the method of execution.
The shift in method follows criticism from medical professionals. Representatives of the Israel Medical Association said doctors would refuse to cooperate with administering lethal injections on ethical grounds.
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Meanwhile, Ben-Gvir had claimed in December that he “received hundreds of messages from doctors” who would be willing to administer the shot.
The revised proposal stipulates that IPS officers involved in carrying out executions would receive full immunity, with their identities kept confidential.
Trials for terrorists would be conducted in military courts, and once a final judgment is issued, there would be no option to mitigate or overturn the death sentence, according to the proposal. The bill also calls for strict detention conditions for terrorists until execution.
Ben-Gvir has pushed for the legislation since the start of his tenure as national security minister, repeatedly stating that its passage was a condition of Otzma Yehudit’s coalition agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Otzma Yehudit argues that the death penalty would serve as a deterrent, claiming it would reduce motivation for terror attacks and kidnappings aimed at securing prisoner exchanges for hostages.
Ben-Gvir said that the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has expressed its support for the bill’s outline.
MK Gilad Kariv (The Democrats), a leading critic of the bill, questioned the Shin Bet’s support and demanded that a representative appear before the committee to clarify the agency’s position. Kariv accused Ben-Gvir of advancing the bill for political considerations ahead of the elections.
“This is a political and populist move, not one intended to improve the fight against terrorism,” Kariv told the panel.
Representatives from several Jewish human rights organizations also attended the meeting, voicing opposition on ethical grounds.
Avi Dabush, director of Rabbis for Human Rights, told the panel that Jewish tradition includes arguments against the death penalty and that historical efforts were made to abolish it.
“Many organizational leaders in the United States, from all streams of Judaism, come out unequivocally against the death penalty,” he said.
Addressing comparisons to other countries, committee chairman Zvika Fogel (Otzma Yehudit) rejected such parallels.
“There is no country surrounded by so many enemies and terrorism,” Fogel said. “There is one thing we have not tried in Israel, the death penalty for terrorists, and the time has come to apply it in order to defend ourselves.”
Ben-Gvir and other Otzma Yehudit members wore golden noose pins during the meeting. The controversial pins sparked criticism last month for appearing to resemble the yellow ribbon symbol associated with efforts to return hostages held by Hamas.