T. Belman. Who knew Eisenkot was such a leftist.
On Thursday afternoon, two 14-year-old Palestinians went on a stabbing spree in a supermarket in Samaria (the West Bank), killing 21-year-old IDF Staff Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman, the married father of a 4-month-old baby, and moderately wounding another Israeli man.
Weissman, like the shoppers who subdued the terrorists with their shopping carts, was not on duty; he was simply at the store buying groceries for his family.
This kind of scenario has become a tragically familiar part of the Israeli landscape since the beginning of the current surge in Palestinian terrorism in September. Though commonly referred to as the “Knife Intifada,” it is also characterized by the use of rocks, Molotov cocktails, guns and vehicles as weapons with which to murder Jews.
Because the average age of the terrorists is young, when they are neutralized (tackled, beaten or shot) — whether by members of the Border Police or armed civilians — the customary rumbling from abroad about Israel’s use of “excessive” or “disproportionate” force is always soon to follow.
As shameful as this double standard is in relation to the Jewish state in general and its response to life-threatening acts of aggression in particular, it is at least held by Israel’s ill-wishers. It is against these propagandists that Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely and others have been working tirelessly and painstakingly to combat in the battlefield of ideas.
Imagine our dismay, then, when the top Israeli official commanding the actual war arena provides ammunition to the enemy.
This is precisely what IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot has been doing. Shocking doesn’t begin to describe his repeated undermining of the ideological fight against Israel’s detractors.
On Wednesday, while addressing high school students in Bat Yam, Eizenkot said Israeli soldiers should use only “necessary force” against terrorists. No big deal. This is the code the Israeli military always lives by — and those who violate it are court-martialed. Eizenkot knows this very well. Though he has only served in his current position for one year, he has a long-standing IDF career under his belt.
“When there is a 13-year-old girl holding scissors or a knife, and there is a barrier between her and the soldiers, I wouldn’t want a soldier to open fire and empty a magazine into a girl like that, even if she commits a very serious act,” Eizenkot said. “We don’t operate on the basis of [Talmudic] adages like ‘If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.’ We don’t kill anyone with a pair of scissors. A soldier can switch off the safety and shoot if he or his comrades are in danger.”
He then said, “If our rules of engagement were in any way unethical, it would jeopardize all of the IDF.”
Again, nothing at all new about that. So why say it as though up until now Israelis have not adhered to this principle, often at their own peril?
Nor is this the first time Eizenkot has revealed his true political colors — the ones that have earned him respect in the pages of Haaretz and on the benches of left-wing Knesset parties. Not only has he come out against security measures, such as closures, curfews and demolitions of terrorists’ family homes, he has also paid respect to the far-left NGO Breaking the Silence — a group of former IDF soldiers and officers who go around the world accusing comrades of war crimes — by saying at a conference in Herzliya earlier this month that all of its claims are being taken seriously and investigated.
At that same Feb. 9 conference, held in memory of one of his predecessors, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Eizenkot described a meeting he had with IDF commanders to discuss threat assessments. In this meeting, Eizenkot recounted, “I said the terrorism wave began due to three reasons: the change in the status-quo at the Temple Mount, the decline in the stature of Arab leadership and a harsh economic reality [of the Palestinians].”
This lie, propagated by a Palestinian leadership that has been raising its children on Jew-hatred and a desire to destroy Israel, is more deadly than a Hezbollah missile or Hamas rocket. That the top brass of the Israeli army should repeat it as fact is horrifying.
There was no change in the status quo of the Temple Mount. Jews and Christians are still not allowed to pray there, while the Muslim Waqf continues to control the holy site. The Palestinians have been spreading the Temple Mount lie to rile up the masses to commit terrorism. In one fell swoop, Eizenkot gave their fabricated gripe a stamp of legitimacy.
Eizenkot’s other claim, that it is “necessary to preserve the hope of the Palestinian population struggling to earn a living,” is equally dangerous. Not only does this mean that Israel — not the Palestinian Authority — is responsible for the plight of the residents of the PA; but it buys into the blatant falsehood that economic woes cause terrorism.
Rather than slam Eizenkot for the harm he is doing, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon defended him on Thursday.
“We must not allow ourselves to become desensitized or to have itchy trigger fingers. We must not lose our morality and go mad because our blood is boiling,” he said. “We must be level-headed and calm and avoid harming innocent people or creating situations where our anger causes us to lose our moral compass in a way that would erode the righteousness of our path. We must uphold these values, as soldiers, police officers and human beings. To win and to remain human beings.”
Shame on both of them for implying that we have ever been or done otherwise. It is not our humanity that remains a question mark, but rather our ability to win with such people in charge of our national defense.
Ruthie Blum is the web editor of The Algemeiner (algemeiner.com).
The chief of staff is very wrong
By Nadav Shragai
The debate over whether to kill terrorist stabbers or just shoot to subdue them, and in what circumstances a given course of action should be taken, is legitimate. In this context, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot’s expectationthat his soldiers refrain from emptying an ammunition clip into a 13-year-old girl armed with a knife or scissors when there “is a barricade between her and the soldiers” is a reasonable one. Subduing her is enough.
But Eizenkot erred twice. First, because he didn’t fill in the second half of the moral equation: In any case where lives are in danger, shoot — and if necessary, shoot to kill. Second, the chief of staff was wrong to make the pathetic connection between the ever-changing situations of the current “Knife Intifada” and the Talmudic rule “If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.” Eizenkot rejected that rule as a mere wise “saying” and spoke of it with contempt.
“If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first” is not a “saying.” It’s an ancient midrashic rule taught as part of the Pinchas weekly Torah portion (Numbers 25:10-30:1). It’s a building block of Jewish morality and warfare, and most especially of the logic behind self-defense. That rule has been integrated into the codes of the Jewish rebirth in the Land of Israel. The state acted accordingly when it took pre-emptive action against the Arab armies in the Six-Day War, when it destroyed Iraq’s nuclear reactor, and when it deployed the IDF for many other pre-emptive missions, and not only for “retaliatory action.” The “if someone comes to kill you …” rule also has also had a prominent place in the right of soldiers and civilians to defend themselves in the first, second, and now third intifadas.
The flagrant dismissal of all that could be seen by our enemies as a mistake of weakness and hesitation. It could also weaken the spirit of the army and sow confusion and hesitation among the soldiers. Eizenkot would do well to fix his mistake and rephrase his expectations.
A separate question that has been discussed many times in recent months is whether, in a case in which lives are at risk, terrorists should be subdued or shot dead. There’s no one answer.
Sometimes there are reasons to capture the terrorist alive, so he or she can be interrogated.
Sometimes it is prudent to deter future terrorists by killing the attacker. Sometimes it’s necessary to kill them because a wounded terrorist is still dangerous. Often, there is also a place for ethics of warfare, and when it’s possible to avoid killing terrorists, subduing them is preferable — all depending on the time, the place, and the circumstances. Eizenkot, at any rate, should speak more carefully.
Police will close a probe into a policeman who shot and killed a Palestinian teenager last November when she carried out a stabbing attack in Jerusalem with a pair of scissors, Channel 2 reported Saturday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYUdoE4gtII
Max says:
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February 20, 2016 at 12:16 pm
vivarto Said:
Murder is a legal concept as determined by a country’s legal institutions. As absurd as it may seem, Israel does not allow terrorists, hostile leftists and suicidal fruity bars as such as yourself to determine it’s laws.
It was a killing The family needs to be sent a bill for the bullets used in having to kill the indoctrinated child soldier. And the parents need to be put on trial for complicity, as do family members of adult terrorists. No reward for the families as they are usually being rewarded by the terrorist organizations.
Ted Belman Said:
You are ready to go on BBC hardtalk.
Not kidding , they loved to persecute Yair Lapid who said something like this.
It’s worse than “trouble” , so long as they remain alive they are a threat Attempted murder deserves the death penalty and should not be rewarded with a drain on the state’s resources. They should be considered as the walking dead and fair game the moment they try.
And the girl or child soldier with scissors could have a suicide bomb or a grenade – it’s war , treat it as such.
@ Ted Belman:A real good friend of mine who made aliyah from the USA in 1970s and went into the paratroopers was quasi regularly doing duty on the Lebanon border which was very hot in those days with PLO terrorists trying to sneak into Israel and sometimes succeeding in killing Jews.
They would lay in the bush hidden not moving at all for a week at a time or so. I asked him did you capture a lot of terrorists doing this?
His answer with a wry smile was we had no instructions in how to take prisoners.
So the enemy knew if they came to kill Israelis they knew they would probably die!
This is called war and deterrence! They are now sending teenagers because of the PR value (they believe) of having young people killed. Abbas calls this peaceful protest.
Do not want to die do not try and kill Israelis.
Any person who comes to kill a Jew should be killed on the spot. That’s the deal. That’s war. kill your enemies.
It is too much trouble to arrest them, give them medical care if needed, try them, and hold them in jail for many decades.
I am telling you it was a mitzvah.
vivarto Said:
why would you want that and thus put a Jews life in danger in the future? shoot immediately and kill, remove all future threat.
vivarto Said:
the “israeli asshole” has the best solution for the safety of other Jews in the future. also, resources should not be wasted on that scum, the jews need the resources. How much does it cost to feed and house that filth? Justice was served and if that were done more often and to more of them the stabbings would cease and Jews would live.
vivarto Said:
no asshole… a wonderful reaction… killing the stinking enemy being daily sent out to kill Jews. Perhaps the shooter lost a relative to these stinking dogs, perhaps he does not want to pay the taxes which will pay for the expenses of trial and jail for years, perhaps he does not want to see them released in a prisoner swap to kill again….. I laud the killing of the enemy trying to kill jews. I have no sympathy for the filth who teach their spawn that jews are sons of apes and pigs. Why should the sons of apes and pigs preserve the lives of such murderous scum?
vivarto Said:
Yes, there was a need… every dead pal saves a Jew life. YOu are horrified by the killing of a jew killer but I am horrified by the beautiful dead jews. you are lucky I dont run it because if they ever killed a member of my family and I had the power I would wipe out their entire tribe. what is degenrate is the focus on them, on the jew killers when there should be not one feeling left over for them.
vivarto Said:
Forgiving is not your right, were you or your relative stabbed, are you living there in fear, are your children daily threatened. If my children were threatened I would want the threat permanently removed and I would not care how it was done. Those folks at the moment they sought to kill a Jew or wanted a jew killed lost all right and legitimacy to life.
vivarto Said:
the important thing is that a jew killer will never again have the opportunity to live.. some killing Jews now will later be out of jail…. that is the degeneracy…. killing Jew killers is a good thing, especially if they can be killed before they achieve their aim…. leaving them alive is very dangerous as we have already seen them return to try again even after being released.
not one tear do I have for such filth who teach their filthy spawn that Jews are sons of apes and pigs… for me that is enough reason for them to cease life.
Did you also see where these Arab girls stabbed an Arab from Bethlehem because they thought he was a Jew? Oh my stop the presses a Jew might have been riled up at what happen and shot a stabber. Gee it was not a video game or a make believe TV show and the person who perpetuated the crime got shot. Actually the Israeli made sure she would not stab anyone else.
Ted,
Eisenkot may be a leftist or not.
However I saw the video of that particular incident where a 13 year old Arab idiot was shot. The video was first put on the WWW without much editing and I could see the details and even very clear face.
After a few hours this video was edited, shortened and blurred.
Two young female Arab idiots jumped around with scissors. Some man took a chair and rammed one of the idiots. She fell down and was neutralized.
The second idiot was jumping around for a while longer swinging her scissors at the security person without touching him. He should her, and she fell down.
Then some Israeli asshole came running with an automatic weapon and shot her several times and she died.
There was absolutely no need for that. She could easily have been taken with bare hands. I was horrified by what I saw. It looked totally cruel, degenerated, unnecessary. It was a murder.
I can forgive Arabs for being animals, I don’t expect much more from them. And normally, I am very happy when these murderous sub-animals are killed.
However his video was different. I am telling you it was a murder.
Of course there is a question what to do with these stupid kids. I have a plan that would work very easily.
It consists of three steps.
1. Separate them from their family forever.
2. De-Islamize them. This is easily done, just keep telling them that Muhammad was a rapist. If they don’t believe, we can invite some of her fellow Muhammadans to demonstrate to her how Muhammad raped girls. I think they’ll very quickly abandon Islam.
3. Give them to some Christian missionary to convert them to Christianity.
After she is converted and have completed her sentence, she can be adopted my some Christian church somewhere. (I don’t care where.)
This plan has many advantages:
1. Muhammadans are more afraid of their kids leaving islam that them being killed. So they will stop their kids.
2. Christians will be supporting and financing this plan.
3. These kids will be unlikely to return to Jihad. And may become valuable cooperators with the Israeli security.
Eisenkot and Yaalon really pissed me off and I am not alone.
They both were real fighters at one time. Any honest speaking cop or solider will tell that once things get to the stage were one starts shooting your adrenaline is flying. Most people will not stop shooting until they sense the danger has passed and they have calmed down.
Yes I was taught fire twice at the chest and check to see if you hit your target and then do what is needed.
So this second guessing is pure bull. Praise the heroes and do not throw them under bus.
Never mind no one emptied a clip into the scissors terrorist.
Arabs want to be safe do not come after Jews violently that is the safety measure.
Israel needs a Trump to answer this.
there is no eisenkot or yaalon without BB. There is a method to this madness.
the same yaalon and BB collude in this adventure. The MO to demonize settlers and nationalists and remove opposition to BB and his agenda. Everything fits together logically like a glove once one realizes what the real agenda is. The MO has been entirely consistent for the last 7 years.
see, thats how the propaganda machine works…. we will see these assertions emerging in support of doing nothing against the pals.
BB and Yaalon are his superiors. Yaalon and eisenkot are unbeleivably arrogant and dangerously reckless because they know the have the support and instruction of BB. What is going on with them now is the logical extension of BB’s under the table understandings whereby he regularly does the opposite of what is to be expected of right wing.
but killing the enemy as soon as you see him is exactly what soldiers do. How did Eisenkot get into his position when he does not even know the difference between a soldier or a policeman? but remember he does this with Yaalons and BB’s blessing and instruction.
Eisenkot is just as guilty of spreading the lie. but there is a logical reason for this MO which resides in the end of the following sentence:
what normal person would be pushing that narrative while they should be killing terrorists? Here it is again:
you see, the priority is not the snuffed out life of beautiful Jews daily on the streets that these men are sworn to protect….. the priority is the pals, lets think about the pals, what can we do for the pals….. I am nauseous…..
It is no accident all this talk of the pals despair and economy…. the propaganda pundits are already releasing such op eds….. it will be boo hoo for the pals and their despair.
…….
the words of an empty suit who semonizes to the public in order to cover up for his supreme negligence and incompetence…..the DM has elevated himself to giving sermons instead of killing the enemy. Perhaps he should be appointed chief rabbi….
Its not rocket science, they are obviously avoiding dealing the necessary blows which are the only thing that stops the honor killers and this fits in with all the prior actions:
facilitating muslim abuse of Jews
facilitating euro building in YS, even admitting it in court,
incarcerating Jews in order to demonize the settlers
advising Jews do nothing instead of arming them to kill terrorists.
being soft on pals, releasing terrorists while locking up the opposition….. all this is due to trying to maintain under the table understandings with the gulf arabs to keep a lid on the pal conflict in order to not interfere with the recruitment and direction of Jihadis against the Iran axis as opposed to Israel.