Preparations for the implementation of Israel’s new death penalty law have already begun. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has boasted that a new prison wing is under construction where the killings will take place, and new “red” uniforms for the Palestinian prisoners have already been ordered.
Meanwhile, the global “condemnations” have ceased. Like others, the European Union, which prides itself on high human rights standards, continues to look away. This is despite the fact that its Association Agreement with Israel has a clear clause that demands respect for human rights.
Official reactions have been nothing short of disgraceful.
When the bill was cleared by the National Security Committee of the Knesset late last month, EU spokesperson for foreign affairs, Anouar El Anouni, described the measure as “deeply concerning” and affirmed the bloc’s opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances.
Yet, in the same statement, the EU praised Israel’s supposed “previous principled position, with its obligations under international law, as well as its commitment to democratic principles”. It is as if Israel had never carried out a brutal decades-long occupation, illegal colonisation and genocidal campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon. The statement then “encouraged” Israel to meet the EU’s conditions on human rights under the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
On March 30, just before the final vote on the bill, European countries, including the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, issued a joint statement expressing “deep concern” about the bill, without warning of any concrete steps.
On March 31, after the bill was passed, the EU released another statement recycling its talking points, adding only that the measure represented a “grave regression” of Israel’s own commitments and practices – a claim that directly contradicts findings from EU investigations, international and Palestinian United Nations bodies, human rights organisations and the December 2024 and July 2024 advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice.
There was no mention of the Palestinian people, who are targeted by this law or the Palestinian prisoners who have suffered brutalisation and death at unprecedented levels in the past two and a half years. There was no acknowledgement of the suffering of the families of Palestinian detainees.
My own family reacted with a mix of heartbreak and bitter familiarity when the bill passed. We were sickened, but not surprised. My father was a freedom fighter in his youth and spent 14 years in Israeli jails for resisting the occupation before being released in a prisoner exchange. I could not help but imagine my father’s story unfolding in today’s reality.
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