Overview
- The bill passed its first reading 39–16 and was sent to the Knesset’s National Security Committee, with two more votes required before it can become law.
- It would mandate death sentences for nationalistically motivated murders of Israeli citizens, allow military courts to impose them by simple majority, and bar commutation.
- Most opposition parties boycotted the vote while Yisrael Beytenu supported it; Degel HaTorah opposed on Rabbi Dov Landau’s instruction, and many Shas and Agudat Yisrael MKs were absent.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now supports the measure, as senior religious leaders including Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef and Rabbi Dov Landau caution against it on legal, moral, and security grounds.
- Palestinian authorities and human rights groups condemned the proposal as discriminatory and contrary to international law, with Amnesty International urging legislators to halt it.