The European Commission condemns Israel’s adoption of a law expanding the scope of application of the death penalty

Today (Tuesday), the European Commission condemned the Israeli Knesset’s adoption of a controversial law expanding the scope of application of the death penalty and considered it a “clear negative step” with regard to respect for human rights.

Commission spokesman Anwar al-Anouni said in a statement that this legislation represents “a clear negative trend regarding Israel’s obligations to respect human rights.”

Yesterday evening (Monday), the Knesset approved the new law, which expands the application of the death penalty to include the perpetrators of attacks that result in the death of Israelis, on the condition that their goal is “to deny the existence of the State of Israel.”

Over the past few days, several European countries have expressed “deep concern” about the “actual discriminatory nature” of the draft law.