In official letters addressed to Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana and to the President Isaac Herzog, Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset has expressed deep concern over the potential consequences of these measures.

“The Council of Europe opposes the death penalty in all places and in all circumstances. The texts currently under examination in the Knesset would represent a grave step backwards from Israel’s long-standing de facto moratorium. I call on the Israeli authorities to abandon these proposals,” he said.

Capital punishment cannot be applied by the 46 Council of Europe member states, reflecting a regional consensus grounded in respect for human dignity and the right to life.

Israel abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes in 1954 and has carried out no executions since 1962. On 25 March 2026, the Council of Europe’s ministers’ deputies expressed deep concern over the draft laws currently under examination in the Knesset that would expand the death penalty in Israel and called on the Israeli authorities to abandon them.

The Knesset has held observer status with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since 1957, and Israel also participates in a number of Council of Europe conventions and cooperation mechanisms.