BEIT JALA — Several Arab lawmakers and former Balad MK Sami Abu Shehadeh filed a request on April 3, 2026, to join an existing High Court petition challenging Israel’s new death penalty law for terrorism cases. The request was submitted by the legal organization Adalah on behalf of the applicants.
The group seeking to intervene includes Hadash MK Ofer Cassif, Ra’am MKs Mansour Abbas, Walid al-Hawashla, and Waleed Taha, along with former Balad MK Sami Abu Shehadeh. They cited their active involvement in parliamentary and public debate surrounding the law as grounds for joining the petition after its initial filing. The applicants argued that their participation would help present the full range of legal and societal issues raised by the legislation.
The original petition was filed by Adalah, several human rights organizations, and MKs Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash), Ahmad Tibi (Ta’al), and Ayman Odeh (Hadash). It asks the High Court to strike down the law as unconstitutional, asserting that it violates fundamental rights to life, dignity, equality, and due process. The petition further contends that the law establishes a discriminatory framework primarily targeting Palestinians, particularly through its application in West Bank military courts.
The Knesset passed the law in March 2026, creating two separate tracks for capital punishment: one under Israeli criminal law and another under military law in the West Bank. Under the West Bank provisions, the death penalty becomes the default sentence in certain terrorism-related murder cases, with only a narrow exception available. The law does not apply retroactively and therefore excludes cases related to the October 7 massacre.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded to the request to join the petition by saying, "If anyone had any doubt who is afraid of the death penalty law for terrorists and why, today they got the answer." He added, "Supporters of terrorism are rushing to stand against the law that will execute their terrorist friends. When they are afraid, it means we are doing something right."
On the same day as the filing, Jews and Palestinians held a protest in Beit Jala against the Knesset-passed law imposing the death penalty for terrorists who murder Israeli civilians in the West Bank. Justice Yechiel Kasher had previously ordered the state to submit a preliminary response to the original petitions but declined to issue a temporary order freezing the law’s implementation.