Kerry calls out
Israel's own weakness. Arabs have little reason to expect that law will be
enforced and crime duly punished.
Att'y
Joseph M. Sabag
The writer is an
attorney and Zionist activist residing in Florida.
Shock and outrage
have resonated through the pro-Israel world after a thinly-veiled threat was directed at Israel by
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week. As part of the
Obama Administration’s ongoing effort to strong-arm Israel into coughing up
harmful concessions to the Palestinian Authority, Kerry warned that if the
present negotiations fail Israel will face an “intifada” – the Arabic expression
for a violent terrorist uprising.
Traditionally, it
has been the tactic of the Arabs to combine the threat of violence with
diplomacy. The outrage in this instance stems from the sorry sight of the United
States likewise stooping to the low level of threatening the lives of innocent
Israeli civilians, in the name of “peace” no less. The danger, of course, is
that the U.S. has now irresponsibly provided a motive and
justification for an eruption of Arab
violence.
The core
assumption in Secretary Kerry’s remark is that Israel lacks the self-respect and
confidence to carry out justice, and shall instead willingly suffer some measure
of Palestinian-Arab terrorism. Though Kerry is certainly seeking to prey upon
it, this is a weakness of Israel’s own making.
A bill must
immediately be filed in the Knesset to institute capital punishment. Such a bill
will serve two important purposes. 1) Even the mere prospect of its passage will
command respect and deter the possibility of terrorist violence against Israel;
and 2) It will launch an important conversation within Israeli government and
society about one of the key reasons for the State’s very existence – the
protection of Jewish life.
What Secretary
Kerry has helped to highlight is that among Israel’s most pressing domestic
problems remains the systemic failure of justice and law enforcement in
governing the Arab residents living within its jurisdiction. Israel does indeed
have the ability to prosecute and punish crime. The prohibition against
its actually doing so, however, is an informal but key aspect of the “peace
process” that has been translated into judicial, military and police
operational culture.
Proponents of
anti-Zionist, appeasement policies refer to this restraint as “the price of
peace” as if there were something noble about it. The result is that the Arabs
have little reason to expect that law will be enforced and crime duly
punished.
The overall
consequence of the deficiencies in Israel’s execution of justice and law
enforcement is that there is a significant lack of deterrence, thereby
proliferating crime instead. Thus, as an example, we see a strategic land grab being
conducted via the construction of tens of thousands of illegal
structures by the Arabs in regions throughout Israel and Jerusalem. More
importantly, hardly a day goes by without some act of violence to
report.
The large numbers
of Arab youths who hurl rocks and firebombs demonstrate the clear understanding
that Israel does not mete out punishment. This understanding is even more so
evidenced by the encouraging parents and elders who see no risk in their
children’s behavior. All of this has an emboldening effect. By the time they
reach their teenage years many of these children are ready to commit serious
acts of property damage, violence and even murder.
Nothing can better
demonstrate the breakdown of justice and law enforcement in Israel than a simple
glance at the expectation of an Arab terrorist who commits murder. An act of
murder, or mass murder for that matter, will not be met by capital punishment.
Instead, the murderer will receive multiple life sentences, a legal and moral
farce suggesting he has more than one life that can be taken from him. In prison
he can expect a variety of comforts and rights. While incarcerated the murderer
will be glorified as a hero by his people and might even have societal
institutions named in his honor if he’s killed enough Jews. His family will
receive payments and subsidies, some of which comes at U.S. taxpayer
expense.
Most importantly,
the Arab terrorist who commits murder can expect that his release
is only a matter of time, dependent simply upon the next prisoner
exchange or “goodwill gesture” that will be forced upon
Israel.
How can anyone who
cares about Israel not be gravely concerned by such legal and moral
backwardness? Such a profound failure of the system of justice and law
enforcement stands in direct opposition to the value that Judaism and Zionism
place upon the protection of life. Furthermore, it increases the likelihood that
Israel will face an intifada and further violence. It’s time for Israel to
muster the confidence to carry out justice and enforce the law, and exercise the
moral clarity to institute capital punishment for crimes that deserve no
less.
Neither Israel’s
allies nor her enemies will respect her until she respects
herself.
The writer is an
attorney and Zionist activist residing in
Florida.
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