We write out of deep concern regarding the death penalty bill currently advancing in the Knesset.
For decades, Israel has maintained a policy of de facto abolition of capital punishment, reflecting a broad recognition, shared across Jewish tradition and democratic societies, that the power of the state to take life demands the greatest restraint. This proposed legislation would mark a significant departure from that longstanding norm by authorizing executions and embedding capital punishment in Israeli law. As currently proposed, the bill creates a discriminatory hierarchy within the law. It mandates the death penalty only in cases involving Palestinian suspects in the West Bank, preserves judicial discretion in comparable cases involving Israelis, and excludes altogether cases in which Israeli settlers kill Palestinian residents. This bill is racist and discriminatory by design and indefensible in principle.
Jewish tradition places the highest possible value on human life. Our sages erected extraordinary barriers around the use of the death penalty, teaching that a court that executes even once in seventy years is considered destructive. This moral caution reflects a foundational Jewish commitment to the sanctity of life.
Laws that mandate irreversible punishment while eliminating discretion and safeguards risk undermining the Jewish and democratic principle that all human beings deserve equal protection and dignity under the law.
Israel faces real and ongoing security challenges, but history and experience show that the death penalty does not deter violence and instead risks deepening cycles of harm.
As members of a global Jewish community committed to Israel’s future, we urge Israeli leaders to halt this legislation and to reaffirm values that have long guided Jewish life: the sanctity of human life and the dignity of every person.
Sincerely,
Ameinu Canada
Canadian Friends of Peace Now
Hashomer Hatzair USA
J Street
L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty
National Council of Jewish Women
New Israel Fund
New Jewish Narrative
Partners for Progressive Israel
Reconstructing Judaism
The Shalom Center
Society for Humanistic Judaism
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
Union for Reform Judaism
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