Germany and other countries have criticized Israel for its proposal to broaden the use of the death penalty. In a joint statement released on Sunday by the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom, officials expressed particular concern about the draft law’s “factual discriminatory character”.
The legislation could take effect as early as next week. It would apply to crimes deemed terrorist in nature in which a person is deliberately killed. The draft explicitly exempts Israeli citizens in the West Bank-whether soldiers or settlers-from the death penalty.
“The passage of this draft would endanger Israel’s commitments to democratic principles” the statement reads. “The death penalty is an inhumane and degrading form of punishment that has no deterrent effect. Therefore we reject the death penalty in all circumstances worldwide. This rejection is a fundamental value that unites us. We urge Israeli lawmakers and the government in the Knesset to abandon these plans”.
To date, Israel has carried out judicially imposed death sentences only twice. In 1948, a soldier was sentenced to death by a military court and executed for allegedly passing information to the Jordanian army; his innocence was later proven. In 1962, Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death for his Holocaust crimes and executed by hanging.