Yes, Israel does have the death penalty, but it has been used only twice since the state was founded in 1948, with the last execution carried out in 1962. Capital punishment is reserved for a narrow set of offenses — wartime treason, Nazi-era crimes against the Jewish people, and, since a March 2026 law, certain terrorism-related killings. That 2026 law marked the most significant change to Israeli capital punishment in decades and is currently facing legal challenges before the Israeli Supreme Court.
The 2026 Terrorism Law
On March 30, 2026, the Knesset passed the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law by a vote of 62 to 48.1Knesset. Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill Approved in Final Readings It reshaped Israeli capital punishment in two ways.
In the military system, the law directs the Minister of Defense to amend Order 1651, the security order governing the West Bank, so that a resident of the area who intentionally kills someone in an act of terrorism faces the death penalty as the default sentence. A military court judge may substitute life imprisonment only if “special circumstances” justify it, though the law does not define that term. The law applies to West Bank residents but excludes Israeli citizens and residents of Israel.1Knesset. Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill Approved in Final Readings
In the civilian system, the law adds a new capital offense to the Penal Law: deliberately killing someone with the intent of “negating the existence of the State of Israel” under circumstances that constitute terrorism. Civilian courts can impose either death or life imprisonment for this offense.1Knesset. Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill Approved in Final Readings
Several procedural changes came with the new offenses. Military courts no longer need a unanimous panel or a prosecution request to impose a death sentence; a simple majority is enough.2United Nations. Adoption of Death Penalty Law by the Israeli Knesset Requires Urgent EU Measures – Joint Statement The same removal of the prosecution-request requirement applies to death sentences under the civilian Penal Law and the Crime of Genocide Law. Once a death sentence becomes final, it must be carried out by hanging within 90 days. The Prime Minister can request a delay from the court for special reasons, but the total delay cannot exceed 180 days.1Knesset. Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill Approved in Final Readings
The law also closes off most paths to a reduced sentence. The military commander of the West Bank region cannot pardon, mitigate, or commute the sentence. The government cannot order the release of anyone convicted, suspected, or accused of a death-eligible offense.1Knesset. Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill Approved in Final Readings The law does not apply retroactively to people already imprisoned.
Older Offenses Still Punishable by Death
Two older sets of provisions carried the death penalty before 2026, though neither has been used in more than six decades.
Wartime Treason
Under the Penal Law 5737-1977, a court can impose death only for offenses committed while armed hostilities are being carried on by or against Israel. Section 99(a) provides that anyone who intentionally assists an enemy at war against Israel in a way that could cause harm faces the death penalty or life imprisonment.3International Commission of Jurists. Penal Law 5737-1977 Ordinary murder is not death-eligible. Israel abolished the death penalty for standard murder cases in 1954 and replaced it with a mandatory life sentence.
Nazi-Era Crimes
The Nazis and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law, 5710-1950, provides the death penalty for crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed during the Nazi regime.4Knesset. Nazis and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law 5710-1950 It was enacted to address the Holocaust and has been invoked only once, in the trial of Adolf Eichmann.
The Only Two Executions
In more than 75 years of statehood, Israel has carried out exactly two executions.
The first was Captain Meir Tobianski, convicted of treason on June 30, 1948, during the Arab-Israeli War, by a hastily assembled military tribunal. He had no lawyer, could not call witnesses, and had no right to appeal. He was executed the same day. On July 5, 1949, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion publicly exonerated him after an investigation found the evidence against him was deeply flawed. The case left a lasting mark on Israeli attitudes toward capital punishment.
The second was Adolf Eichmann, a senior Nazi official who coordinated the deportation of millions of Jews to extermination camps during World War II. After being captured in Argentina and brought to Israel, he was tried in Jerusalem in 1961 under the Nazis and Nazi Collaborators Law on charges including crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.5Yad Vashem. About the Eichmann Trial The Supreme Court upheld his conviction.6Legal Tools. Attorney General v. Adolf Eichmann – Judgment He was hanged shortly before midnight on May 31, 1962, at a prison in Ramla. No execution has been carried out in Israel since.
Challenges to the New Law
The 2026 law faces both domestic litigation and international condemnation. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel filed an urgent petition with the Israeli Supreme Court shortly after the law’s passage, arguing that the 90-day execution timeline makes meaningful appeals or retrials nearly impossible.7Gisha. Urgent Petition to Israeli Supreme Court Against the Death Penalty Law United Nations human rights experts have called for the law’s immediate repeal, describing it as a discriminatory regime of capital punishment that effectively singles out Palestinians, because the mandatory death penalty applies through military courts that have jurisdiction only over West Bank Palestinians and not over Israeli settlers in the same territory.8United Nations Human Rights Office. Israel’s Death Penalty Law Constitutes Discriminatory Regime of Capital Punishment As of mid-2026, the Supreme Court challenge remains pending, and no execution has been carried out under the new law.