Tel Aviv / PNN /

 Israeli media reported that the Knesset is presenting today, Monday, the “Palestinian Prisoner Execution Bill” for a first-reading vote.

The Knesset’s Security Committee had approved, on Monday, November 3, the proposal to allow the death penalty for prisoners, sending it to the Knesset plenum for a vote—a move that has sparked widespread condemnation both locally and internationally.

This development comes amid pressure from far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who threatened that his party, Otzma Yehudit, would not support coalition bills unless the death penalty law is presented within the next three weeks.

The bill is part of the agreements signed to form the governing coalition led by Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir at the end of 2022.

The prisoner execution bill is not new; it has been proposed multiple times over the past years, most recently in 2022, when far-right Minister Ben-Gvir reintroduced it with several amendments. The Knesset approved it for preliminary reading in March 2023.

The bill stipulates imposing the death penalty on anyone who intentionally, or through negligence, causes the death of an Israeli citizen out of racial hatred or to harm Israel.

Approval of the bill in the first reading would allow it to continue through the next Knesset session, even if it is not fully passed during the current session.

Stages of Lawmaking in Israel

Israeli legislation passes through several stages, starting with a bill drafted by a Knesset member or a government committee, as outlined on the Knesset’s official website.

In a specially convened meeting, the Knesset presidium approves bill proposals submitted to it and places them on the plenum’s agenda for preliminary reading. The bill is then reviewed, and a decision is made whether to approve it before it is sent to a parliamentary committee to prepare it for the first reading.

If a bill is submitted by the government rather than a Knesset member, as in the case of the death penalty bill, or by Knesset committees, it bypasses the preliminary stage and starts directly at the first reading. The proposals for first reading are published in an official bulletin, and a vote is held to either reject them or move them forward for deliberation.

If the proposal passes the first reading, it is sent to a specialized committee to prepare it for the second and third readings. After committee deliberations, the bill undergoes additional discussion in the plenum, followed by votes on the second and third readings.

Once the bill passes all three readings, it becomes part of the laws of the State of Israel, is officially published in the legal records, and comes into force.