[JURIST] Israel’s Knesset Plenum [official website] on Tuesday announced [press release] their approval of the second and third readings of Parole Bill (amendment no. 14). The bill [Reuters report], proposed by MK Ayelet Shaked [official website], will limit the power of the government to free prisoners as part of foreign relations prisoner swaps by allowing judges to label certain murders as exceptionally severe. Those murders labeled as exceptionally severe will carry a mandatory 40-year sentence. Having passed the second and third readings, the bill will be published in the Official Gazette [Israel state archives] and become an official law of the State of Israel.

The controversial bill stems from the Israel-Palestinian conflict [HRW backgrounder] over Gaza and the West Bank. Israel has engaged in numerous prisoner-swaps throughout the conflict, including a release of 1,027 prisoners [Library of Congress report] in 2011. Opponents to the bill, many of whom come from Israel’s Meretz political party [official website], argued during the readings that the bill is stifling to peace efforts. The conflict has engendered numerous other controversies, including allegations of prisoner mistreatment [JURIST report] in Israel and Israeli war crimes [JURIST op-ed] against Palestinians, prompting [JURIST report] the UN to devote an investigative body to the topic.