Spain's PM labels Israel's death penalty law 'step towards apartheid'

MADRID — Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned Monday's approval by the Israeli parliament of a law that would impose death sentence for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks by military courts as a "step towards apartheid".

"It is an asymmetrical measure that would not apply to Israelis committing the same crimes. Same crime, different punishment. It's another step towards apartheid. The world cannot stay silent," Sanchez, one of the most vocal supporters of Palestinians among Western leaders, wrote on X on Tuesday (March 31).

Apartheid was the system of racial segregation enforced by South Africa's white minority governments in the second half of last century.

Spain has been embroiled in a diplomatic standoff with Israel since Madrid's sharp criticism of the Israeli government during the 2023 to 2025 Gaza war, which it labelled as genocide. Israel's officials have called Spain's stance antisemitic on several occasions.

The rift worsened this month after Spain's opposition to the US-Israel attacks on Iran, leading Madrid to permanently withdraw its ambassador to Israel on March 11.

On Monday, Israel's parliament passed the law making death by hanging a default sentence for Palestinians convicted in military courts of deadly attacks, fulfilling a pledge by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right allies.

Critics of the new Israeli law say that its language effectively confines those Israelis who can be sentenced to death to members of the country's 20 per cent Arab minority, many of whom identify as Palestinian, and not to Jewish citizens.

Earlier, the European Commission said Israel's law was 'very concerning' and was "a clear step backwards" in terms of its commitment to democratic principles.

Israel abolished the death penalty for murder in 1954. The only person executed in Israel after a civilian trial was Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Nazi Holocaust, in 1962.

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