The death penalty adopted by Israel’s parliament has drawn sharp rejection from the German Green Party. “The federal government can no longer look away; it must take action” Green leader Franziska Brantner told the “Spiegel”. She urged that targeted sanctions be imposed against Police Minister Itamar Ben‑Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whom she said would be trampling human rights with a policy of forced displacement and violence.
Brantner also criticised Ben‑Gvir’s push to extend the death penalty, describing it as “de facto exclusively directed at Palestinians and intended to be applied in a summary proceedings without discretion”. She said this exposes the deeply racist character of the policy. “Words alone are no longer enough”. The Greens therefore insist that the federal government must act decisively.
The left-wing German party also expressed outrage over the Israeli decision. Party leader Jan van Aken told a news magazine that “the right‑wing majority in Parliament wanting to introduce the death penalty for crimes that, de facto, can only be committed by Palestinians is just as discriminatory as it is racist”. He warned that the new law would further split the region.