EU Condemns Israel's Death Penalty Bill

(MENAFN) The European Union issued a forceful condemnation Wednesday after an Israeli parliamentary committee advanced a contentious bill that would legalize the execution of Palestinian prisoners, warning the move would constitute a major setback for human rights.

EU foreign affairs spokesperson Anouar El Anouni declared the proposal — cleared by the Knesset's National Security Committee late Tuesday — to be "deeply concerning," as the bloc mounted pressure on Jerusalem to abandon the legislation.

"The European Union opposes capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances," El Anouni said, reaffirming the bloc's decades-long stance against the death penalty.

He went further, arguing that execution cannot be carried out without violating fundamental rights: "The death penalty is a violation of the right to life and cannot be executed without violation of the absolute right to be free from torture and other ill-treatment. Capital punishment also has no proven deterrent effect and renders any judicial errors irreversible."

El Anouni also pointed to Israel's own track record as a reason to reject the bill. "Israel has long upheld a de facto moratorium on both executions and capital punishment sentencing, thereby leading by example in the region despite a complex security environment," he said. "Approving this bill would represent a grave step backward from this important practice and from positions Israel has itself expressed in the past."

The EU framed its opposition not merely as a commentary on domestic Israeli law, but as a matter bound to international commitments and core democratic principles, urging authorities in Tel Aviv to reverse course.

The bill is now headed to the Knesset's General Assembly for a full vote — its second and third readings — expected next week, which represent the final legislative hurdles before it can take legal effect.

The legislation carries sweeping provisions: it would allow courts to impose the death penalty without a formal request from prosecutors, remove the unanimity requirement for such sentences, and reduce the threshold for a capital verdict to a simple majority. Military courts governing Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank would also gain the authority to hand down death sentences, with the defense minister granted the right to submit an opinion to the adjudicating panel.

Among the bill's most severe clauses, Palestinians under Israeli occupation who receive a death sentence would be stripped of any avenue for pardon or appeal.

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