Doctors have been instructed not to participate in the execution of convicted terrorists, under the new death penalty bill, by the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) on Friday.
The IMA argued that the participation of doctors in executions is prohibited by professional codes. The IMA explained its stance aligns with the World Medical Association’s guidance, in particular the Tokyo Declaration, which expressly forbids physicians from participating in torture, or cruel, inhuman, or degrading procedures.
"Without going into the substance of the action, we must clarify that the position of the Medical Association's Ethics Bureau, which we presented to the committee, prohibits any participation by doctors in determining or carrying out the death penalty," said Dr. Yossi Walfish, chairman of the Ethics Bureau.
Dr. Alberto Olchovsky, from the Israel Medical Association, claimed last week that "the World Medical Organization states that the participation of doctors in executions is ethically unacceptable at every stage, both in preparation and in consultation, and it is forbidden to use our knowledge for purposes that do not promote health and well-being."
Despite the ISA’s assertion, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir claimed he new doctors who would volunteer to execute the convicted terrorists.
The ethical ramifications of the bill have sparked clashes in the Knesset and caused a significant reaction by MK Gilad Kariv (The Democrats), who was removed from a debate earlier this week.
“A state does not operate according to feelings of revenge. You are asking to turn us into a pariah state that spits on Jewish morality. This is a racist law proposed by a racist, fanatical group that disgraces Zionism, Judaism, and the State of Israel,” Kariv said.
While still subject to debates in the Knesset, the current legislative outline would see the Israel Prison Service carry out the execution by means of lethal injection within 90 days of the court’s final verdict. Under this plan, rights of appeal and commutations would be limited.
Post-October 7 push to execute terrorists
There has been a greater push to see terrorists executed following Hamas’s October 7 massacre and the prisoner-hostage exchanges that followed. Sinwar was serving four life sentences for the abduction and murder of two IDF soldiers at the Nafha Prison.
October 7 mastermind and deceased Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was released as part of the 2011 exchange that saw some 1,000 terrorists released in exchange for Gilad Shalit.
Years before his release from Israeli prison, in 2004, Sinwar’s life was saved by an Israeli doctor who discovered he had a brain tumor. He survived as he was immediately transferred to the hospital for surgery.
Dr. Yuval Bitton, who treated Sinwar at the prison clinic and facilitated his medical transfer, had known the terror leader since 1996.
“When he explained to me what was happening to him, I diagnosed it as a stroke, and together with the general practitioner, we decided to take him to the hospital,” Bitton told CNN in 2024. “He arrived at the hospital, the diagnosis was that he had an abscess in the brain, and he was operated on that day, thus saving his life – because if it had exploded, he would have died.”
“He also told me that on the day he was released in Shalit’s deal in 2011, he owed me his life, and one day, he will repay it,” he added.
Bitton’s nephew was one of the more than 1200 murdered during the Hamas invasion planned by Sinwar.
Keshet Neev contributed to this report.