JERUSALEM

An Israeli law for the execution of Palestinian prisoners will not be implemented until the Supreme Court completes its review of petitions against it, the director of the Adalah legal center told Anadolu on Tuesday.

“The law will not apply retrospectively and will only apply from the date it was enacted,” Hussein Jabareen said.

He expressed optimism that the legislation could be repealed, adding that the center submitted a petition against the law just half an hour after the Knesset passed it.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court asked the government to submit its response to petitions challenging the law by May 24.

Jabareen estimated that the Supreme Court’s review of the petitions could take months, possibly a year. He expressed hope that the court will eventually annul the law, citing its “numerous flaws.”

He said many institutions oppose the law, including the Israeli army and the judicial system, “not out of human rights concerns, but because the law does not achieve what they call deterrence, which could encourage kidnappings aimed at saving prisoners from execution.”

The law is "racist," said Jabareen, noting that the measure conflicts with international law as it applies exclusively to Palestinians.

“While many countries apply the death penalty, this statute is the only law in the world that discriminates between defendants based on ethnicity," he added.

The Knesset passed the law Monday evening by 62-48 votes. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voted in support of the law.

The law allows execution by hanging, carried out by prison guards appointed by the Israeli Prison Service, with the identities of the executors kept secret and granting them legal immunity.

It allows courts to issue death sentences without a request from prosecutors and does not require a unanimous decision, permitting rulings by a simple majority.

It also applies to military courts that handle cases involving Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and grants the defense minister the right to present an opinion before the court.

The law has drawn domestic criticism. About 1,200 Israeli figures, including Nobel laureates, former military officials, and former Supreme Court judges, voiced strong opposition in February, calling it a “moral stain.”

More than 9,500 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, including 350 children and 73 women. Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups say detainees face torture, starvation, and medical neglect, leading to dozens of deaths.

Since October 2023, Israel has intensified measures against Palestinian prisoners alongside its war in Gaza, which it is conducting with US support. The conflict has killed more than 72,000 people and wounded 172,000 others, most of them women and children.

*Writing by Serdar Dincel