The passage of Israel’s new death penalty law on March 31 has drawn international scrutiny to the country’s legal system. The law imposes the death penalty as a default sentence on Palestinians convicted of “terrorism” by Israeli military courts, prompting widespread condemnation from human rights advocates globally.

Separate Legal Tracks for Palestinians

The new legislation establishes a separate and harsher legal track for Palestinians in the occupied territory, who are automatically tried in military courts rather than civilian courts. Experts argue this law isn’t isolated, but part of a larger pattern of laws designed to ensure unequal rights and protections based on racial and ethnic lines, particularly targeting Palestinians.

Expert Analysis: Apartheid and Dehumanization

Yair Dvir, a spokesperson for B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, describes the new law as a “horrific example of the depths of apartheid” and a “direct violation” of the right to life. He emphasizes the existence of “a variety of laws that institutionalise preference for its Jewish citizens both within the 1948 borders and, of course, under the military regime in the West Bank.”

Nasir Qadri, an international law practitioner at Koc University in Istanbul, explains that Israel operates two distinct legal frameworks. One, through military courts in the West Bank, has a conviction rate exceeding 99% for Palestinian defendants. The other, within Israel’s civilian courts, targets acts with the “intent to negate the existence of the state of Israel.”

A Pattern of Discriminatory Laws

Mehmet Rakipoglu, a Middle East expert at Mardin Artuklu University in Ankara, characterizes the new law as part of a “broader punitive turn” in Israel. He suggests the law’s elasticity allows the state to prioritize its security narrative while disproportionately penalizing Palestinians, effectively reclassifying and penalizing political dissent and resistance.

Key Legislation Illustrating Bias

  • Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (2003): Denies family rights based on ethnicity, barring family reunification for Israelis married to Palestinians from occupied territories.
  • Admissions Committees Law: Empowers communities to reject housing applicants based on “social and cultural suitability,” effectively excluding Palestinian citizens.
  • Nakba Law: Financially penalizes commemoration of the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948.
  • Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People: Legalizes national self-determination as unique to the Jewish people.
  • Kaminitz Law: Expands state powers to demolish Palestinian homes and seek prison sentences for planning breaches.
  • 2023 Citizenship/Residency Revocation and Deportation Law: Allows revocation of residency or citizenship, disproportionately affecting Palestinians.
  • Absentees’ Property Law: Used since 1950 to dispossess Palestinians of their land and homes.
  • Law of Return: Grants automatic citizenship to Jews and their families, while denying Palestinians the same right.

Experts highlight how these laws collectively extend unequal rights, with an “entire apparatus of written laws” designed to establish “the demographic dominance of Jews,” according to Dvir. Rakipoglu points to “differentiated rights tiers” in land allocation and resource access.

Narrative Control and Erasure

The Nakba Law is singled out as an instrument of narrative control, suppressing Palestinian memory and ensuring Israelis are not taught about past injustices. The Basic Law, alongside the Nakba Law, is seen as erasing the 1948 displacement of 750,000 Palestinians to create a singular Jewish national story.

Ultimately, the experts agree that the legal system, beyond recent legislation, has been systematically discriminatory against Palestinians for over seven decades, resulting in a physical and narrative struggle based on a belief in supremacy and the erasure of Palestinian existence.