Israel’s introduction of the death penalty for Palestinians is a brazen violation of the Geneva Convention, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson.
Senator Stephenson said:
“Israel claims to be a modern, progressive country, and though this has long been exposed as fallacy, its decision to employ the death penalty for Palestinians, and only Palestinians, reasserts the barbaric nature of the Netanyahu regime.
“The Knesset’s bill only applies to Palestinians who have killed Israelis in what is deemed an ‘act of terror’, and not to Israelis who kill Palestinians in any scenario.
“This is another tool for the Israeli apartheid state to subjugate the Palestinian people, who already do not receive a fair trial in Israeli courts – this law, in addition to its inherent brutality, is ripe for exploitation and corruption.
“I was appalled to see Israeli parliamentarians in the Knesset celebrating the introduction of this law, which will only cause more bloodshed. It is now apparent that the bloodlust of the Israeli terror state is limitless.
“If we continue to take no action in the face of these crimes, Ireland will continue to be complicit in this genocide. The Government’s treatment of the Occupied Territories Bill has become farce, and it is shameful that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have abandoned their mandate to uphold international law.
“Not only should the OTB be introduced immediately, but the Government must lobby for the suspension of the EU-Israel trade agreement in light of this savage, draconian death penalty legislation.
“All tools at our disposal should be utilised: Ireland must call for Israel’s observer status at the Council of Europe to be revoked, and for Israel to be blocked by UEFA and other international bodies.
“We recently saw a court in Belgium rule that its Government had not done enough to fulfil its duties in opposing Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. Until our Government takes these important actions, it is damned by the same verdict.”
March 31st, 2026