German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Tuesday expressed her concern about the independence of the judiciary in Israel, and plans to allow the death penalty against Palestinian prisoners.

“I will not deny that we abroad are concerned about some legislative plans in Israel,” Baerbock said in a press conference with her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen after their meeting in Berlin.

The German minister added: "One of the values that unites us is the protection of constitutional principles such as the independence of the judiciary."

Baerbock warned that implementing the death penalty, which was approved by the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs after it was submitted by the Jewish Power Party headed by Itamar Ben Gvir, would be a “grave mistake.”

“We are particularly concerned about the plan to implement the death penalty,” Baerbock said.

The minister said: “We strongly oppose the death penalty and we talk about it all over the world, in the United States and Japan, as well as in Iran and Saudi Arabia.”

The Israeli government is seeking to approve a "judicial reform plan" that the opposition describes as a "coup" that would limit the authority of the Supreme Court and give the executive authority control over the committee for appointing judges.

Last Sunday, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation Affairs in the Israeli government approved a draft law implementing the death penalty against Palestinian perpetrators of operations.

The draft law is scheduled to be put before the Knesset for a vote on it in three readings, and the ruling coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu has a majority (64 seats out of 120) in the Knesset.

For his part, Cohen announced that the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank will continue under the current government, as previous governments did.

The Israeli Foreign Minister said in the press conference with his German counterpart: “We will certainly continue building there as well.”

These statements are a repudiation of one of Israel's most prominent commitments in the final statement of the five-year Aqaba security meeting in Jordan on Sunday evening, which is to freeze settlement construction for several months in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The minister was also quoted by Haaretz as saying at the same conference: “Regarding Iran, there are two options on the table: we can return to sanctions, or we can have a reliable military option.”

Cohen arrived in Germany on Tuesday for an official visit that will last one day.