Following the orders of Minister of Defense Israel Katz, the Commanding Officer of the IDF Central Command, Major General Avi Bluth, signed an official amendment to the Judea and Samaria Security Directives Order applying the death penalty for terrorists that was passed in the Knesset in the region as well.
The law allows military courts to impose the death penalty on terrorists who commit terror attacks and murder Jews.
The move represents a policy shift that comes as part of the public upheaval in Israel following the October 7 Massacre, and constitutes the implementation of one of the Otzma Yehudit party's central election promises.
According to the law and the current amendment to the military order, the death penalty will become the exclusive "default" punishment in the military courts in Judea and Samaria for terrorists who intentionally cause death in an act of terror.
The amendment fundamentally changes the legal procedure that has been enacted until now: from now on, the imposition of the death penalty will no longer be conditional on the request of the military prosecution, it will not require a unilateral ruling by the entire panel of judges (but rather a regular majority), and there will be no limit on the rank of judges presiding over the case.
Moreover, the commander of IDF forces in the area will not be allowed to pardon the terrorist or commute his sentence, and the law categorically prohibits the government from releasing a terrorist who was sentenced to death or convicted for crimes carrying the death penalty in a prisoner swap agreement.
Minister Israel Katz welcomed the move, saying, “The era of restraint is over. Terrorists who murder Jews will not sit in prison under comfortable conditions and will not wait for deals; they will pay the heaviest price by hanging. Immediately after the law was approved, I instructed the Israel Defense Forces to implement it fully in Judea and Samaria, and today we have turned the new policy into reality."
Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir added, “We promised, and we delivered. Against murderous terrorism, the State of Israel is changing the equation. We do not retreat, and we create a price that no terrorist will want to pay."