Israel’s parliament has passed the first reading of a bill that would introduce the death penalty for “terrorism”.

The amendment to the penal code, proposed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, was approved by 39 votes to 16 in the 120-member Knesset on Monday, signalling it has support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

According to the draft text, the death penalty would apply to individuals who kill Israelis out of “racist” motives and “with the aim of harming the State of Israel and the revival of the Jewish people in its land”, The Times of Israel reported.

Critics said the wording means that in practice, the death penalty would apply almost exclusively to Arabs who kill Jews, not to Jewish hardliners who carry out attacks on Palestinians.

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