Controversial death penalty and foreign media bills clear first reading in Israel’s parliament
By Tal Shalev, Isaac Yee, CNN
(CNN) — The Israeli parliament advanced two controversial bills on Monday, including one that would expand the use of the death penalty for convicted “terrorists” and individuals found guilty of nationalistically motivated murder.
The death penalty bill, championed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, passed its first reading by 39 votes to 16. It now moves to a parliamentary committee for further debate and preparation ahead of the second and third readings.
Ben Gvir has argued the measure would “create substantial deterrence” against terrorism and he threatened to withdraw his party from Israel’s coalition government if the bill was not put to a vote.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously opposed the bill, citing concerns over potential retaliation against Israeli hostages held in Gaza. However, he has since reversed his stance following the implementation of a fragile ceasefire.
Israel currently allows the death penalty only in exceptional cases, including for crimes such as treason and war crimes committed under the Nazi regime, but it has not been used for decades.
The only person ever executed in Israel was Adolf Eichmann, a key architect of the Holocaust, who was hanged in 1962 after he famously was captured by Israeli intelligence agents in Argentina and subsequently convicted in a landmark trial.
Before Monday’s vote, Ben Gvir declared on X that “History will judge anyone who dares today to raise a finger against the death penalty law for terrorists.”
The bill also amends the military courts law, with jurisdiction over the occupied West Bank, allowing courts there to impose the death penalty by a simple majority vote on the judge’s panel instead of a unanimous vote. It also rules out any option of allowing extenuating circumstances in the sentencing. Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to military law, while Israeli settlers are subject to Israeli civilian law.
The UN has previously condemned Israel’s military courts in the occupied West Bank, saying that “Palestinians’ right to due process guarantees have been violated” for decades, and denounced “the lack of fair trial in the occupied West Bank.”
UN experts said last year that, “in the occupied West Bank, the functions of police, investigator, prosecutor, and judge are vested in the same hierarchical institution – the Israeli military.”
Foreign media bill
In the same session, lawmakers also approved the first reading of a separate bill that would allow the Israeli government to shut down foreign media outlets without a court order.
The proposal seeks to formalize what has been dubbed the “Al Jazeera Law,” after the Qatari network’s operations in Israel were shuttered in 2024 by the Ministry of Communications. The ministry accused Al Jazeera of anti-Israel bias and of supporting Hamas through its coverage of the Gaza war.
Al Jazeera has repeatedly denied those accusations and condemned its closure in Israel. Multiple Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza have also been killed by Israeli forces over the last two years.
The new foreign media legislation, introduced by Likud lawmaker Ariel Kallner and backed by Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, would make such powers permanent — even outside times of war or national emergency — and remove the requirement for judicial oversight.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the proposal, calling it “the first nail in the coffin of broadcast media’s editorial independence in Israel.”
“Against a backdrop of war and an upcoming election campaign, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is seeking to silence voices critical of the far-right coalition in power,” said RSF editorial director Anne Bocandé. “These legislative attacks will have lasting, negative consequences on Israel’s media landscape,” she warned.
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