Following instructions from Defense Minister Yisroel Katz, IDF Central Command chief Major General Avi Bluth signed an amendment to the Judea and Samaria Security Directives Order formally applying the recently approved death penalty law for terrorists to the region as well.

Under the legislation, military courts are authorized to sentence terrorists to death for carrying out terror attacks in which Jews are murdered.

The decision marks a major change in Israeli policy in the wake of the October 7 massacre and fulfills one of the flagship campaign promises of the Otzma Yehudit party.

According to the new law and the military order amendment, the death penalty will now serve as the standard punishment in military courts in Judea and Samaria for terrorists who deliberately kill in acts of terror.

The amendment also significantly alters the existing legal framework. Moving forward, prosecutors in military court will no longer need to specifically request the death penalty in order for it to be imposed. In addition, a unanimous ruling by the judicial panel will no longer be required, with a regular majority now sufficient. Restrictions regarding the rank of judges overseeing such cases have also been removed.

The new policy further states that the commander of IDF forces in the region will not have the authority to pardon convicted terrorists or reduce their sentences. In addition, the law explicitly bars the Israeli government from including terrorists sentenced to death, or convicted of offenses punishable by death, in future prisoner exchange agreements.

Minister Yisroel Katz praised the implementation of the measure, 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 also welcomed the move, stating, “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.”