European nations criticize Israel’s death penalty plans | Israel-Palestine conflict News

France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom raise concerns about the ‘de facto discriminatory character of the bill’.

European countries have expressed “deep concern” about Israeli plans to enforce the death penalty in a bill that could disproportionately target Palestinians.

In a statement shared by the German Federal Foreign Office on Sunday, the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom expressed their “deep concern” over the bill, which could be voted into law next week.

“We are particularly concerned about the de facto discriminatory character of the bill. Passing this bill would risk undermining Israel’s commitments to democratic principles,” he said.

Israel’s far-right government will place its bill in a second and third reading in the Knesset, the parliament, on Monday. If it succeeds, it will almost certainly face a legal challenge and go before the Supreme Court.

The legislation is considered to be Israel’s policy of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza continues, and as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank experience an upsurge in Israeli military and settler violence.

Amnesty International previously said the proposals, which are being championed by government figures including far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, would make the death penalty “yet another discriminatory tool in Israel’s system of apartheid”.

“These amendments mean that the most extreme and irrevocable punishment is reserved for, and armed against, Palestinians,” the rights group said in February.

At the time, a dozen United Nations rights experts argued that the legislation would remove “judicial and prosecutorial discretion” and prevent courts from “considering individual circumstances, including mitigating factors, and imposing a proportionate sentence that fits the crime.”

Alain Berset, head of the Council of Europe, also appealed to Israel on Sunday about the draft law. “The Council of Europe is against the death penalty in all places and in all circumstances,” he said, calling on the authorities to abandon it.