Germany and other countries have criticized Israel for its proposal to broaden the use of the death penalty. “We are particularly concerned about the factual discriminatory nature of the draft law” reads a joint statement released Sunday by the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
The proposed legislation could become law as early as next week. It would be applied to offenses classified as terrorist acts in which a person has been intentionally killed. In the West Bank, the draft explicitly excludes Israeli citizens-whether they are soldiers or settlers-from the death penalty.
The statement goes on to say that adopting the bill would threaten Israel’s commitment to democratic principles. “The death penalty is an inhumane and degrading form of punishment that has no deterrent effect. Therefore we reject the death penalty worldwide, regardless of circumstances. The rejection of capital punishment is a fundamental value that unites us. We urgently call on Israeli lawmakers in the Knesset and government officials to abandon these plans” the ministers added.
Israel has carried out court‑mandated executions only twice. In 1948 a soldier was sentenced to death by a military court and executed because he was alleged to have transmitted information to the Jordanian military-later his innocence was proven. In 1962 Adolf Eichmann was convicted of his Holocaust crimes and hanged.
