On March 30, 2026, the Israeli parliament passed a law making death by hanging the default sentence for Palestinians convicted in military courts of lethal attacks, as well as Israelis convicted of lethal attacks aimed at "ending Israel's existence."
Critics say the law essentially would punish Palestinians but not Jewish Israelis who may have committed similar crimes.
Numerous posts online shared an image purporting to show far-right Israeli politicians wearing "hangman's noose" lapel pins in support of the law. Snopes readers asked us to confirm whether the image was authentic.
(Facebook user "Zellie Imani")
The above image does in fact show Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is typically described as a far-right politician in the Israeli media, and other Israeli officials wearing such noose pins on their jacket lapels. We found similar photographs on Ben-Gvir's verified social media accounts.
We thus rate this claim as true.
Ben-Gvir posted footage of himself wearing the pin numerous times in 2025 and 2026 on his official Instagram account. One post from Dec. 8, 2025, included a video of Ben-Gvir walking down a hallway in the same clothes and with the same men in the background, indicating the above photo was taken around the same time.
(Instagram user @otzma_yehudit)
Ben-Gvir's office acknowledged the lapel pin in a statement to Israeli news outlet The Times of Israel in December 2025, saying the noose symbolizes his "commitment to the demand for the death penalty for terrorists" and sends "a clear message that terrorists are deserving of death." Lawmakers from Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party also were spotted wearing noose-shaped pins.
We reached out to Ben-Gvir's office for comment and will update this report if we receive a reply.
During a committee meeting in December 2025, Ben-Gvir said he and his party members "all came with a pin, and it is one of the options through which we will implement the death penalty for terrorists." He added: "Of course, there is the option of the gallows, the electric chair and also the option of euthanasia."
In an Otzma Yehudit Instagram post announcing the passage of the law in late March 2026, Ben-Gvir is seen wearing the pin. The post stated:
Today, the State of Israel has taken a historic and necessary step in the global fight against terrorism.
The passage of the law allowing for the death penalty for terrorists who commit premeditated, nationalistically motivated acts of murder sends a clear message: those who seek to annihilate our people will no longer find refuge behind prison bars.
(Instagram user @otzma_yehudit)
Israeli media compared the gold-colored noose pin to the yellow ribbons worn by Israeli politicians to show support for the Israeli hostages taken by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
On March 3, 2026, Otzma Yehudit party member Limor Son Har-Melech shared video and photos (archived) on X of herself holding up a rope fashioned into an actual noose while wearing the noose pin. Har-Melech has previously said that "there is no such thing as a Jewish terrorist."
Critics and human rights organizations have called the Israeli law discriminatory because it does not apply equally to Palestinian and Israeli prisoners.
Snopes has covered numerous claims about Ben-Gvir, including when he posted on X in 2024 that Hamas loved then-U.S. President Joe Biden.