Netanyahu advances death penalty bill for Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has approved legislation which would make it easier for courts to hand death sentences to Palestinians who have killed Israelis or soldiers.

While Israel has a law permitting the death penalty, no executions have been carried out since the 1962.

Under the current law, the death penalty may only be imposed by unanimous decision from a panel of three judges. A bill proposed by Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party, which Netanyahu backed yesterday, would remove this requirement, allowing both civilian and military courts to execute Palestinians with a majority decision.

The bill is expected to be brought up at the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee in the next few days to prepare the legislation for its first reading in the Knesset.

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