By Vic Rosenthal, ABU YEHUDA
…European universalist ethics no longer promotes the survival of cultures that espouse it in the environment that is present-day Europe. We certainly see in present-day Europe all of the above responses to this pressure: adaptation, migration and cultural failure. – Part I
This is even more true for Israel. A nation-state whose moral code is based on the idea that all men are brothers will not survive in the Middle East. It needs to operate according to more tribalistic moral principles, in which the welfare of its own culture and people are given priority over others.
What are the practical implications of such a change to our moral principles?
The case of Elor Azaria provides a starting point. Azaria shot dead an already ‘neutralized’ Palestinian terrorist. This was a violation of standing orders as expressed in the IDFs code of ethics, which explicitly forbids harming prisoners of war.
In his defense Azaria argued that he believed the terrorist may have been wearing a suicide vest. But the military prosecutor, the Defense Minister and other officials apparently did not believe him.
When he was indicted for manslaughter, there were large demonstrations in various parts of the country calling for him to be freed. I suspect that many of the participants didn’t believe him either, but nevertheless they felt strongly that he was not guilty of a crime in any event. I believe they were thinking something like this:
Here is a 19 year-old soldier whom we have entrusted with protecting us, and whose job makes him a target at all times, even when he’s waiting for a bus. We send him into combat in places like Gaza or Lebanon where our tactics of doing everything possible to avoid civilian casualties put him at great risk of becoming a casualty himself.
Palestinian terrorists have been murdering Jews on our streets at random, and this one has just stabbed and tried to murder his fellow soldier. The terrorist will receive medical treatment and be incarcerated in a safe and relatively comfortable prison with other terrorists, until he is released in exchange for a hostage or because the PLO has told the American president that freeing terrorists will lead to ‘peace’ negotiations.
Meanwhile, our soldiers will continue to be targets and have to operate among restrictions designed to protect terrorists.
Perhaps Azaria violated orders. But in a larger sense, what he did was not wrong. The position we place our soldiers in is wrong.
This is a perfect example of the tension between the concern for the ‘other’ – in this case a deadly enemy – that is built into what I called ‘European universalist morality’, and our own need to protect ourselves. There are several asymmetries here: Palestinian terrorists are not bound to obey rules protecting civilians or prisoners; indeed, they prefer soft targets when possible. When they are caught they are treated well and often released to continue their activities. They act according to a genocidal ideology in which every Jew is a target for murder, while our soldiers are required to behave like policemen and ‘detain’ a ‘suspect’ who has ‘rights’ that must be protected.
In this case, not only was the shooter, Azaria, charged with a crime, but several IDF officers at the scene were reprimanded for failing to provide prompt medical care for the wounded terrorist.
It isn’t just the army. The mission statement of Magen David Adom, the Israeli organization affiliated with the International Red Cross, calls for care to be given to “any individual in need, avoiding discrimination based on nationality, religion, gender, age, class, political affiliation or ideology.” This has been consistently interpreted to mean that care should be given in an order based on severity of injury, regardless of whether the patient is a terrorist or his victim. A badly injured terrorist, in other words, is expected to be treated first! Whether this happens in actual situations is another matter, which illustrates the moral conflict inherent in the attempt to maintain a universalist morality in a tribal region like the Middle East.
The psychological consequences of our European-style ‘fairness’ on our tribal enemies are also counterproductive. They understand our ‘goodness’ as weakness, and take maximum advantage of it. It does not make them admire us or wish for peace; rather, it generates contempt and encourages them to continue using violent tactics.
What is true of our rules for warfare and counterterrorism also applies to our public diplomacy and other areas. Our leaders express an understanding of the supposed Palestinian need for a state and desire to sit down with them and negotiate a peace deal, while the Arabs publish maps on which Israel does not appear and educate their children to love martyrdom above all. We provide surgery in our best hospitals to the relatives of leaders of Hamas and the PLO, while they encourage their people to pick up a knife and stab a Jew.
The universalist approach to conflict is to look for technical solutions. Hamas can’t stop firing missiles at us? Develop a way to shoot the missiles down, but don’t hurt anybody. No choice but to bomb Hamas targets? Develop a way to warn civilians (and incidentally, Hamas fighters). The PLO has impossible demands, designed to destroy our state? Try to compromise. Arabs stabbing Jews in the streets? Try to arrest them; only shoot to kill as a last resort.
One of the implications of a universalist morality is that there is no such thing as anenemy in the traditional sense. If anyone should be considered an enemy it would be the leaders of Hamas and the PLO; yet our doctors save the lives of their relatives. In this view even terrorists have rights, and the people of Gaza and the Arabs of Judea and Samaria shouldn’t be punished collectively for what their leaders do. After all, everyone is an individual and everyone has human rights.
Israelis have taken this European approach even further. Because of our (historically inappropriate) guilt complex toward the Palestinians, we might say that “everyone has human rights especially the Palestinians.”
But what if we realign our moral system to see the conflict in tribal terms?
This is war and the Palestinians are the enemy. Who speaks like this in Israel today?
When we confront a terrorist, we should shoot to kill, just like in a firefight in Bint Jubail. The terrorist Sgt. Azaria shot probably shouldn’t have been alive in the first place. No, we shouldn’t shoot prisoners of war, but we don’t need to provide medical treatment to enemy casualties either, at least until all of ours are taken care of. Non-uniformed terrorist operatives are unlawful combatants, and can be tried for murder or terrorism if they survive. Needless to say, there should be an option to apply the death penalty in these cases, and it should be applied liberally.
You don’t supply water, electricity, food and cement to an enemy population, especially one which has no desire to overthrow its leadership. And the Palestinians, both in Gaza and Judea/Samaria have defined themselves as an enemy, by their choice of leaders, by what they teach in their schools and say in their official and social media, and in their popular support and enthusiastic participation in terrorism against Jews.
Collective punishment? Of course they should be punished collectively, because their guilt as an aggressor is collective.
If it is determined that he had no good reason to fear the wounded terrorist, Sgt. Azaria will have violated a standing order and should be punished for doing so. But his punishment should be minimal. We put him in an untenable situation and expect him to behave like, pardon the expression, Jesus Christ.
A Palestinian terrorist who tried to murder a Jew ended up dead. It’s war. Stuff happens in war. Get over it.
this is not about talking about the innnocence or guilt of particular parties… which is what BB and yaalon did. This is about recognizing that the so called “nationalist” rape is really another muslim terror crime which should be indicted as a terror crime. No one is demanding that indictment.
this so called “nationalistic” rape is in fact a terrorism crime. Rape was used by the muslims who teach their children that jews are sons of apes and pigs as a form of terror. The 3 arabs homes must be demolished and their families deported. there must be zero tolerance of muslim anti semitism, abuse and terror against Jews in the Jewish homeland. This is much more than a rape… it is muslim terror against Jews.
those fool jews commiserating about equal treatment should realize that those who teach their children that jews are sons of apes and pigs cannot be considered to be equal or to be deserving of rights… they are criminal lunatics in need of control and supervision. Dangerous creatures let loose on the world.
😛 😛 😛
More boo hoo talk of humiliation from a muslim woman as if I care. Muslim woman are knifing and blowing people up worldwide… of course they must be profiled and thoroughly searched, including cavity searches, every time because they are an untrustworthy violent collective known globally as lunatic killers. Instead of feeling shame that she belongs to such a despicable collective of intolerant violent killers she is looking for sympathy. Every muslim should be fully searched before entering any public area because public safety warrants it. All of her clothes should be removed and every cavity searched, does she seriously expect to be treated like a normal human being when she belongs to an org whose creed is that Jews are sons of apes and pigs? Modern neo nazis are not as dangerous as muslims.
no boo hoos for the honor killer head choppers.
What Ethics!!!
The Pal was on the ground and NOT a prisoner!
The real problem is Israel governments always giving into deception not only from the Muslims (that is to be expected) but from the jealous western morons who have no ETHICS but have the hutzpah to accuse Israel of their own recurrent crimes against humanity.
I.E.: the numerous bombed hospitals by the US, NATO, Russian, Syrians, Turkish etc…
I my opinion the soldier must be reprimanded all right but get away with a share symbolic punishment. Those who first engaged the terrorist must have killed, not wounding him in the first place. They are the once who should be reprimanded and be punished. My philosophy is that if someone come to kill us kill them first! This includes preemptive strikes and I wouldn’t be upset, feel sorry or guilty if some errors were made killing people in the process. I further find the irresponsible hasty reaction and condemnation of the Defense Minister, Chief of Staff and the Prime Minister completely misplaced and ridicule.
There are two separate issues here:
1. Whether killing terrorists is the right thing to do.
2. Whether in case of neutralized terrorist this should be done by the soldier or by the court.
The criterion is whether such action is good for Israel.
It seems to be good.
However there are some cases when it may be advantageous not to kill the terrorist, or not to kill him/her right away.
The terrorist may have valuable information.
The terrorist may change side and become collaborator.
Because of this, a soldier should not kill a neutralized terrorist. This should be left to the military tribunal.
However the current situation is that the terrorist is sentenced to jail where he lives on Israeli’s citizen’s tax money. He is not being corrected, but further corrupted in jail. He together with his fellow create strong israel-hating group and culture.
So in the current context, the soldier may have done a good thing by killing the terrorist.
See how the corrupt, fake zionist hijacker… the foreign funded mole and puppet….. see how he shamelessly admits that he is the puppet of the foreign defamers, the foreign swindlers of Jews, the foreigners demanding that the jews stay inside their euro designated boundaries…… this fake zionist who frantically with great haste has only one platform… to give the jewish homeland to the muslims to build their houses on the instruction of his foreign handlers.
the man is shameless…. he publicly admits that he is a foreign puppet.
this is the new morality.
the same corrupt and foreign paid moles are the ones who instituted the “moral” discussion as a cover up of their disgusting crimes and MO. the same cover ups of muslim rapes and murders is taking place today in europe done by the same folks who pay the Israeli traitors and saboteurs. Their puppets are instructed to be mimics too.
here is one of those foreign funded mole opportunists who can always be relied upon to spread the same recurring propaganda from her handlers in europe.
she called for tough love and now pretends she is not for BDS
and why is that, is it because the interference is obviously illegal criminal corruption? and why say “senior politicians” when the crime was committed by senior officials of the Israeli gov with a completely different set of fiduciary duties than mere politicians. Surely every attorney understands the serious legal obligations and constraints on senior gov officials?
aha, the AG points out the crime committed… so what will he do now that he knows a high crime was committed?
“…liable to be interpreted..”?????
the facts of the crime speak for themselves in public view with the whole nation as a witness… yaalons only defense for his crime was the pretense that he was influencing the public morality rather than the due process of law for citizens and soldiers. Yaalon commited his crime in full view and there are no mitigating circumstances unlike the soldier to whom he committed his crime of depriving him intentionally of due process by using his high office to extort the results he sought from his military subordinates. Come Manderbilt, the jig is up, folks see what’s going on, it took you a long time to acknowledge, with a non commital mumbling, that a crime was committed…… but instead of indicting the criminals he warns them not to do it again… he sent them a warning to cease their serial criminal activity….HUH??????
so what will you do about the obstruction and interference of justice from the high office of a minister and the commander of the IDF?
and yet the whole nation has clearly witnessed that this process was not, and continues not to be, observed. The whole nation witnessed the obstruction and interference of the DM and his attempts to blackmail his subordinates to his desired outcome. What will mandebilt do to retore justice to the soldier. Everything to date in the process has been admittedly corrupted… therefore it is absurd to expect that justice can follow from a process that has already been admittedly corrupted.
and yet manderbilt is confused because he beleives that asking for a continuing crime to cease is a substitute for fixing the damage of the crime, or a substitute for justice. Manderbilt is also confused with his vague and obscure reference to be guided by the public interest…. Yaalon beleives that the public interest lies in abusing his authority by interfering with the justice system… so what is mandebilts interpretation of “realizing the public interest”…. does it include the restoration of justice to the soldier by dismissing this absurd lynch mob and apologizing to the officer? Does it include indicting the criminal who committed the real dangerous crime here?
also, an hijacking and a coup against the nations justice system occured when a megalomaniac attempted to seize power.
So is manderbilt a talker or a doer?
finally, the AG has taken notice of a serious crime but merely uses his high office to admonish NOT to do it again. Is Manderbilt saying that some travel expenses are more important than the commission of a serious crime by a DM? Unless Manderbilt initiates a serious investigation and throws out the lynch mob yaalon indictments he is derelict in his duty… and highly politicized. The evidence against Yaalon is rock solid.
Yaalon used his high position of authority and power to cajole his dependent subordinates to interfere with and obstruct the course of Justice.
In so doing, he had no qualms to declare before investigation the guilt of the soldier repeatedly, publicly to those whose lives depend on his largesse: his military subordinates, the investigators, the prosecutors and the military judges. A soldiers life and reputation has been seriously damaged by the despicable high crimes of Yaalon.
Yaalon damaged also the confidence of the nation in the IDF by his public attempt to manipulate his subordinates… those who sought advancement got the message that they must heed their commander and find the soldier guilty.
the soldiers due process has already been intentionally harmed by the actions of Yaalon, the IDF, and the overtly corrupted justice system… the investigation was corrupted, the indictment was corrupted, the military judges rulings were corrupted. This corruption has irretrievably corrupted any possibility of justice for the soldier. The case should be dismissed with an apology to the soldier and those involved in the corruption brought to indictments.
Yaalon has demonstrated that his corrupt interference is willful and serial: he did the same at Duma when he jumped up to declare to the world that jews burned a baby; he did it again when he supported the law to incarcerate dissenters, nationalists and real zionists, he did it again when he rounded up, tortured and incarcerated dissenters, nationalists and zionists WITH NO EVIDENCE. Yaalon’s arrogance has demonstrated that he is a serial and willful criminal abusing his power, endangering the IDF, denying citizens due process of law, inciting public lynch mobs without evidence; bringing murder to jews globally with his blood libeling lies of jews burning babies. the man is a ticking time bomb endangering all around him, all under him and all jews in the world.
It is not enough for Manderbilt to acknowledge that crime was committed… it is his responsibility to investigate and bring the criminals to justice and restore justice to those damage by this heinous and corrupt application and abuse of power and law.
Dont just talk, Manderbilt, do your duty or be seen to be another politicized pretender. I dont see how Manderbilt, who stalks for 2 shekels of travel expenses, can fob off a huge crime which he has just admitted happened.
a cause for celebration… this should be the goal… death to enemies, death to terrorists, death to anti semites….. death to those who teach their children that Jews are sons of apes and pigs.
One does not seek to talk with such filth.