1,200 Israelis oppose proposed death penalty law for Palestinian prisoners: Report

Around 1,200 Israeli public figures announced their opposition to a proposed law that would impose the death penalty on Palestinian prisoners, a bill being advanced by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing it as a "moral stain," local media reported on Tuesday.

The Israeli figures, including Nobel Prize laureates, former senior military officials, and former Supreme Court justices, published a statement opposing the death penalty law for Palestinian prisoners currently being promoted in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, the Israeli news website Walla reported.

The statement said that "renewing the use of the death penalty would cast a moral stain on Israel and contradict its identity as a Jewish state," referring to the proposed execution law for Palestinian prisoners.

Nobel laureates in Chemistry, Ada Yonath, Aharon Ciechanover, Avram Hershko, and Dan Shechtman are among the signatories.

Also signing were four former Supreme Court justices, Meni Mazuz, Yoram Danziger, Anat Baron, and George Kara, in addition to dozens of former judges and senior prosecutors.

Other signatories include former security officials: Shin Bet chiefs Ami Ayalon and Carmi Gillon; former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo; former Israeli army chiefs of staff Dan Halutz and Moshe Ya'alon; and former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The report noted that university presidents and academics from across the country, along with hundreds of senior faculty members, also signed the statement.

The far-right Otzma Yehudit party, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, proposed the bill, which would impose the death penalty on Palestinian prisoners accused of killing or participating in the killing of Israelis, while not applying the same law to Israelis accused of killing Palestinians.

In November, the Knesset approved the bill in its first reading. It must still pass a second and third reading before it can become law, while no date has yet been set for the second and third readings.

If passed, under the bill, the sentence would be carried out by lethal injection administered by the prison service.

To prevent any possibility of delaying the execution, the law stipulates that it must be carried out within 90 days of the court's decision.