Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to soften a proposed bill mandating the death penalty for terrorists, citing concerns over potential international fallout, officials familiar with the matter told ynet on Saturday.
Netanyahu’s aides approached Ben-Gvir, who opposes changes to the legislation, arguing that Israel cannot enact a death penalty law harsher than the standard applied in the United States. Sources said the prime minister and coalition leaders would not allow the bill to pass in its current form.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
In an unusual move, the Prime Minister’s Office also contacted a lawmaker from Netanyahu’s Likud party, who in turn asked Likud lawmaker Eli Dallal to submit a reservation against the version being advanced in committee by lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech of Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party.
The National Security Council, the Shin Bet internal security agency and the Foreign Ministry have also raised objections, officials said. About 1,000 reservations have been filed against the bill, most by opposition lawmakers. During one committee discussion, the Knesset’s legal adviser warned that the current draft may face constitutional barriers due to legal concerns.
According to the amendment submitted by Dallal at Netanyahu’s request, one key change would eliminate a mandatory death sentence for terrorists from the West Bank without judicial discretion. Under the revised language, judges would be able to choose between imposing the death penalty or life imprisonment.
Another proposed change would grant defendants the right to appeal a death sentence based on Israel’s obligations under international law. In Ben-Gvir’s draft, there is no right to appeal the sentence itself, only the conviction.
Netanyahu is also pressing to remove a clause that would make the death penalty a maximum — but not mandatory — sentence only in cases of murder committed in an act of terrorism by an Israeli citizen or resident. He is seeking its deletion to avoid distinctions based on the nationality of victims and potential discrimination in cases of Jewish terrorism against Palestinians, such as the case of Ami Popper, who was convicted of murdering seven Palestinian laborers who were not Israeli citizens or residents.
The Security Cabinet has discussed the bill, which remains in committee ahead of its second and third readings.
Before the return of all living hostages from Gaza, captives and missing persons coordinator Gal Hirsch warned the Cabinet that advancing the legislation could endanger the hostages. After their return, he said Netanyahu had changed his position and that the concern had been lifted. Still, Hirsch said the prime minister continued to seek reservations to the bill and asked that security assessments by his office and other agencies be made available to judges in exceptional cases involving the death penalty.
Opposition lawmaker Gilad Kariv of The Democrats party, who has led efforts against the bill, said: “We have argued all along that Ben-Gvir’s proposal does not align with the positions of the security agencies, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation or international law. The prime minister’s request proves that. Given Ben-Gvir’s insistence, the coalition should oppose the bill.”
Officials in Netanyahu’s circle confirmed the details. Ben-Gvir’s office did not respond to a request for comment.