My Right Word: Just What I Was Thinking

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Just What I Was Thinking

If the Israelis were clever, they would return the terrorists dead, making it at worst an even trade.

James Taranto

4 comments:

Daniel said...: that is why Moshe Plesser was such a hero.; Wed Jul 16, 02:49:00 AM
Peter Drubetskoy said...: And prove to all the world that it is has more in common with Cosa Nostra than with real democracy where rule of law means something?
Bravo, more people like you, James Taranto and Daniel above and who will need Iran, Hamas or Hizballah to finish Israel off?; Wed Jul 16, 06:14:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Peter-

I'm not sure why you assume that Israel, as a democratic state where the rule of law reigns, would not have the right to do something like this.

The law in Israel (and it is similar in almost all western democracies) allows for the head of the government to direct the secret services to carry out assassinations that he believes are necessary for the security of the state.

The fact that Kuntar is in Israeli custody doesn't change the fact that his assassination may well be necessary for the security of Israel.

This is a decision the LAW allows the Israeli government to make.; Wed Jul 16, 01:41:00 PM
Peter Drubetskoy said...: Jerry.

First, I am not sure whether law in Israel (and it is similar in almost all western democracies) allows for the head of the government to direct the secret services to carry out assassinations that he believes are necessary for the security of the state and I am a bit lazy to check it right now. It's not terribly important here.

On the other hand, I am perfectly sure that no law in pretty much every country in the world , let alone a democratic one, does not allow extra-juridical killing of prisoners held in state’s custody, be they criminals or prisoners of war or political prisoners. If there were such a “law” somewhere its legitimacy would be about the same as of a law that, for example, would give a head of government a right to have sex with any woman he desires. Such a “law” would fly in the face of anything we consider human decency.

Furthermore, you suggest that Kuntar’s ”assassination may well be necessary for the security of Israel”. “Necessary”? Really? How do you define “necessary”? There would not be security in Israel unless Kuntar is assassinated? What a load of bull. He is a repellent terrorist but he is a small fish. Or, if you think that Hezballah or anybody will tremble from fear of Israel seeing how it ruthlessly executes one of its prisoners and think twice next time before attacking Israel, you should reexamine your understanding of human psychology and your knowledge of history as well. Any time Israel behaved like a criminal it did not really manage to scare anybody, only to engender more animosity.

Also, you might learn that judgments of heads of governments as to what constitutes a legitimate target for assassination necessary for security of state are often awfully wrong. For example, Spielberg’s (pretty bad) movie “Munich” conveys nonetheless the sad truth that most of those killed during operation “Wrath of God” not only had nothing to do with the Munich massacre but also were of the more moderate wing of Palestinian resistance, the alleged lack of whom is so lamented by Israel right and left alike (read, for instance, this summary.) Same people that thought it was such a splendid idea to assassinate PLO leaders also thought it was a splendid idea to support Hamas “as an alternative” or whatever other magnificent strategic planning these pseudo-intellectuals had.; Thu Jul 17, 05:15:00 AM