The Green Party of England and Wales has called on the UK government to suspend Israel’s ambassador following the passage of a law making death by hanging the mandatory sentence for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks – legislation that explicitly excludes Israeli citizens from its provisions and which has been condemned across the international community as discriminatory.
The law passed its final reading in the Knesset on Monday by 62 votes to 48, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelling to parliament in person to cast his vote in favour. Championed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir – who was seen brandishing a bottle of champagne in the chamber after the vote and attempted to open it before being prevented by security – the legislation represents the most significant expansion of capital punishment in Israel’s history.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski described the new law as “morally disgusting” and “apartheid,” while the party’s co-deputy leader Mothin Ali called for the Israeli ambassador to the UK to be suspended and demanded a total ban on UK arms sales to Israel.
What the law actually does
The legislation mandates death by hanging as the default punishment for Palestinians convicted in Israeli military courts of carrying out deadly attacks deemed to be acts of terrorism. The death penalty would be carried out within 90 days of sentencing, with a possible postponement of up to 180 days, and judges can only opt for life imprisonment under vaguely defined “special circumstances.”
Crucially, the law is explicitly structured to apply only to Palestinians. Israeli citizens and residents are entirely excluded from its provisions: military jurisdiction applies exclusively to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, while Israeli settlers – who live in the same territory – are tried in civilian courts where the death penalty is not mandated.
The law also severely restricts the right of appeal and limits access to legal counsel and family visits. Human Rights Watch noted that it “mandates execution by hanging, restricts access to legal counsel and visits from family members, limits external oversight, and grants immunity to those involved in carrying out executions.”
The context of this is stark. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has stated that Palestinians tried in Israeli military courts face an approximately 96% conviction rate, based largely on confessions extracted under duress during interrogations. More than 9,500 Palestinians are currently detained in Israeli prisons, with around half held under administrative detention – meaning they are held without charge or trial.
The reaction from Israel’s own critics
Opposition to the law came from within Israel as well as from the international community. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the legislation in the Knesset, saying: “We are not like Hamas; we are exactly the opposite of Hamas. We did not establish a Jewish state to adopt the moral standards of radical Islam. This law says: If they come to murder us, the only solution is to be like the murderers.”
Former deputy Mossad director Ram Ben Barak also raised grave concerns during parliamentary debates, saying: “It says that Hamas has defeated us. It has defeated us because we have lost all our values.”
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel warned the law establishes “two parallel tracks of justice, both designed to target Palestinians,” while Amnesty International called for its immediate reconsideration. A legal challenge has already been filed at Israel’s Supreme Court on constitutional grounds.
Ben-Gvir, by contrast, was unrepentant. In a social media post following the vote, he rejected international calls to withdraw the legislation, writing: “We made history. And I say to the people of the European Union who have applied pressure and threatened the State of Israel: We are not afraid, we will not submit.” Before the vote, he had appeared in the Knesset wearing a pin in the shape of a small metal noose.
The Green Party’s demands
Zack Polanski did not mince his words in responding to the legislation. He described the law as “morally disgusting” and characterised Israel as an apartheid state, drawing an explicit comparison to apartheid South Africa. His deputy Mothin Ali went further, issuing a series of concrete demands to the UK government.
Ali called on Keir Starmer’s government to suspend Israel’s UK ambassador, describing the law as “unconscionable” – particularly given that military courts in which Palestinians are tried typically operate without legal representation or juries. He also said the law as written would result in “Palestinians being killed without a fair trial.”
“Introducing the death penalty into Israel’s legal system, in a way that rights groups say will de facto only apply to Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, will result in Palestinians being killed without a fair trial,” Ali said. “Palestinian citizens of Israel already lack certain rights granted to Jewish citizens, and their second-class status was made explicit with the passing of the 2018 Jewish Nation-State Law.”
Ali also renewed calls for a total ban on UK arms sales to Israel. “The government must make clear that it will not continue to sell any military weapons or weapons components to Israel,” he said. “The Green Party calls for Britain to impose sanctions on Israel, as most of the world community did to South Africa when it was also operating an apartheid state.”
International condemnation
The UK was among several Western nations to voice concern ahead of the vote – though critics argue the response has fallen well short of what the law demands. The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement on Sunday condemning the bill ahead of the vote, describing it as a “dangerous escalation” and expressing “deep concern” about its discriminatory character.
The European Union called the bill a “grave regression” from Israel’s existing moratorium on executions and capital punishment, adding that the death penalty “is a violation of the right to life and cannot be executed without violation of the absolute right to be free from torture.”
The UN Human Rights Office in Palestine called on Israel to “immediately repeal the discriminatory death penalty law,” stating that implementation would violate international law’s prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and would further entrench “Israel’s violation of the prohibition of racial segregation and apartheid.”
The Palestinian Authority described the law as a “dangerous escalation” and a “war crime,” while Hamas called on the international community – including the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross – to intervene immediately to protect Palestinian prisoners.
What happens next
The law is expected to enter into force within 30 days. Rights groups and legal experts have already filed challenges at Israel’s Supreme Court, though Ben-Gvir and coalition hardliners have shown little concern about judicial scrutiny.
For the UK government, the Green Party’s demands place additional pressure on an already difficult position. Britain has been walking a careful diplomatic line – criticising specific Israeli policies while stopping short of the more drastic diplomatic or economic measures demanded by critics. With the local elections on 7 May approaching and the Greens continuing to surge in the polls – in part on the basis of their unambiguous stance on Gaza – the pressure on Starmer to respond more forcefully is unlikely to ease.
The Daily Britain has approached the UK government for comment.
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