Church leaders speak out against Israel's new death penalty ruling

Jerusalem ICN/JS

Source: A Jerusalem Voice for Justice

A Jerusalem Voice for Justice: an ecumenical witness for equality and a just peace in Palestine/Israel state:

Christians are an integral part of the society in which they live. They must fulfill their religious and civic duty and speak out against the Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill, voted into law on March 30, 2026 in Israel. It came into effect on May 18, 2026. Although Israel had previously allowed for the death penalty, it was imposed only very rarely. The new bill threatens to make state executions a more regular feature of the legal system in Israel.

Unequal applicability

The new bill establishes two equally problematic frameworks for the application of the death penalty. First and foremost, the bill promotes the application of the death sentence in military courts in the territories Israel has occupied since 1967. Trials in these courts are too often unfair, based on evidence extracted under torture, and without adequate legal representation. Second, the law can be applied in Israel, to any person convicted of killing an Israeli with the "aim of negating the existence of the state of Israel." Both contexts of application mean that the death penalty will only be meted out to Palestinian Arabs. This is blatant discrimination.

Christian teaching

Christian teaching states that the death penalty is inadmissible. The dignity of the human person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. New understandings have emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. More effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens. These systems must not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption. Executing a prisoner is a violation of the inviolability and dignity of each human person, created in God's own image. Christians believe that this teaching is also to be found in the traditions of both Jews and Muslims. For these reasons, Christians must work with determination for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.

Deterrence

Those in Israeli society who have supported and lobbied for this bill argue that by imposing the death sentence those that might seek to commit acts of terrorism will be deterred. Numerous studies have shown that there is no evidence that the death sentence serves to deter. In Israel too, experts have argued that this is an unfounded assumption, especially in cases of acts of violence committed with the framework of strong ideological convictions.

Irreversibility

The new bill urges that executions be carried out by hanging, being imposed by even low-level judges, even when the prosecution has not asked for it. It should be carried out within ninety days of sentencing, with no right of appeal. Only in unclear circumstances can the authorities intervene. However, history shows that legal processes are human, incomplete and imperfect. In some cases when the death penalty was imposed in the past, a mistake had been made and the dead person was vindicated after his death.

Crushing violence with violence

Finally, our shared tradition as people of faith, rooted in the teachings of the prophets, insists that violence engenders only more violence. Countering death with death, killing with killing, plunges us ever deeper into the darkness that threatens to engulf us all. We call to mind the warning of the prophet Habakkuk, "Alas for you who build a town by bloodshed, and found a city on iniquity!" (2:12)

As Christians, we join our voice to all those within Israeli society as well as those abroad who call on the Israeli authorities to abolish this unjust and dangerous law. We call on the Israeli authorities to listen to the voice of the prophets, to obey the law of God to love, and to respect that God created each human person in God's image and likeness, calling them to be holy as God is holy and never to do violence against one another. We join all those praying that our society be founded on the promotion of equality, justice and peace.

Signatories:

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah (emeritus)
Lutheran Bishop of the Holy Land, Munib Younan (emeritus)
Greek Orthodox Archbishop, Attallah Hanna
Mr Yusef Daher
Ms Sawsan Bitar
Mr Samuel Munayer
Ms Dina Nasser
Mr John Munayer
Ms Sandra Khoury
Rev David Neuhaus SJ
Rev Frans Bouwen MAfr
Rev Firas Abdrabbo
Mr Rafi Ghattas
Rev Alessandro Barchi and other members