Israeli minister wears noose pin at Knesset hearing on death penalty bill for Palestinians

Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir and lawmakers belonging to his party attended a Knesset National Security Committee session on Monday wearing a yellow pin shaped like a gallows noose.

The meeting discussed a proposed bill that would allow the death penalty for Palestinians accused of resisting the Israeli occupation.

Ben Gvir, a leader of the extremist Jewish Power party, joined fellow party members for the hearing ahead of the bill’s second and third parliamentary readings, despite growing legal and ethical concerns over the proposal.

Speaking at the session, Ben Gvir openly supported execution as a state-sanctioned measure. “One of the options by which the law will enforce a death penalty for terrorists… Of course, there is the option of the gallows, the electric chair, and there is also the option of anesthesia,” Haaretz reported, quoting him as saying that.

The day before the hearing, legal advisers to the committee raised serious constitutional issues with the bill, questioning its legality and whether it aligns with Israeli law.

Ben Gvir dismissed these warnings, claiming he had received backing from some medical professionals.

The proposed legislation and Ben Gvir’s dramatic display have sparked concern and debate both within Israel and internationally over the ethics and legality of implementing the death penalty in this context.