The passage of the bill marked the culmination of a yearslong drive by the far-right to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offenses against Israelis.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the Knesset to vote for the bill in person. The law makes the death penalty — by hanging — the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of nationalistic killings.

It also gives Israeli courts the option of imposing the death penalty on Israeli citizens convicted on similar charges — language that legal experts say effectively confines those who can be sentenced to death to Palestinian citizens of Israel and excludes Jewish citizens.

It will not apply retroactively to any prisoners Israel currently holds, including the Hamas-led militants who attacked the country on Oct 7, 2023, triggering the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

After the final 62-48 vote in favor, lawmakers erupted into cheers and stood up in jubilation.

Netanyahu, who remained in his seat, did not immediately react or speak. Israel's firebrand minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who spearheaded the push for the legislation, brandished a bottle in celebration. Far-right lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech, one of the bill’s original sponsors whose first husband was killed in a Palestinian militant attack in the West Bank, smiled through tears.

The law will face legal challenges

The legislation, which says it will take effect in 30 days, is certain to face legal challenges that may stall its implementation. Minutes after the bill passed, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel said it had already petitioned Israel’s highest court to challenge the law.

It called the legislation “discriminatory by design” and said the parliament had enacted it “without legal authority” over West Bank Palestinians, who are not Israeli citizens. Amichai Cohen, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute’s Center for Democratic Values and Institutions, said that under international law, Israel’s parliament should not be legislating in the West Bank, which is not sovereign Israeli territory. Many in Netanyahu’s far-right coalition seek to annex the West Bank to Israel.

The vote capped a daylong debate in the parliament. During earlier deliberations, lawmakers raised other concerns, including how the bill does not allow clemency, contradicting international conventions. Opposition lawmakers at times appeared to plead with their colleagues to vote against the bill.

What does the bill say?

Experts say the legislation has two key elements that will effectively limit the death penalty to Palestinians.

First, the bill makes the death penalty a default punishment for nationalistic killings in military courts, which try only West Bank Palestinians and not Israeli citizens. It says that only in special circumstances can military judges change the sentence to life imprisonment. It gives Israeli civilian courts a greater degree of leniency in sentencing, with judges having the option to choose between the death penalty and life imprisonment.

The second element is how the bill defines the offense punishable by death: killing that rejects the existence of the state of Israel. “It will apply in Israeli courts, but only to terrorist activities that are motivated by the wish to undermine the existence of Israel. That means Jews will not be indicted under this law,” Cohen said.

The foreign ministers of Australia, Britain, France, Germany and Italy released a statement Sunday urging Israel to abandon plans to pass the law, calling it “de facto discriminatory," and saying the death penalty was unethical and had no “deterring effect.”

The United States said Monday it respected Israel's right to set its own laws after its parliament introduced the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of killings, a move sharply criticized by European nations and rights groups. "The United States respects Israel's sovereign right to determine its own laws and penalties for individuals convicted of terrorism," a State Department spokesperson said.

"We trust that any such measures will be carried out with a fair trial and respect for all applicable fair trial guarantees and protections."

The United States is the only NATO country that still practices capital punishment. It has long been the key diplomatic and military supporter of Israel.

Israel has not carried out a judicial execution since 1962 when it hanged Nazi Adolf Eichmann, a key perpetrator of the Holocaust.