Israel's reaction to the revelation that it selectively assassinates suspected Palestinian militants in the West Bank exposes disturbing developments in the West Asian state. Anat Kam, a former soldier who was under house arrest for nearly two years, has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison for leaking the explosive documents to Uri Blau, a journalist on the newspaper Haaretz, which published articles based on them in November 2008. The principled leak comprised 2,085 documents, including 700 classified as top secret, on a disc Ms Kam had copied while, in the course of her compulsory military service, she was a junior clerk in the office of General Yair Naveh, then responsible for the Israeli military in the illegally occupied West Bank. The Tel Aviv District Court's sentence follows a plea bargain whereby Ms Kam admitted the unauthorised possession and distribution of classified information; the state had planned to pass on classified information with the intent of harming state security, conviction for which would have meant life imprisonment. Mr. Blau, for his part, went to the United Kingdom in April 2010, returning only in October 2011, after his source waived immunity and he agreed to tell the Shin Bet security agency where the materials were located.
The case is highly significant. To start with, Ms Kam could copy the documents involved only because General Naveh did not like reading them on a computer, so his staff had copied them from a secure machine to one from which soft and hard copies could be made. The Israeli judge Zeev Hammer has severely criticised both this and Shin Bet's failure even to find the discs afterwards. Secondly, Mr. Blau himself submitted the articles to the military censor, who cleared them for publication. Thirdly, the authorities banned any reporting of Ms Kam's house arrest, though blogging and international press coverage led to a partial removal of the embargo after four months. In addition, the attorney general has cleared the officers who failed to keep the documents secure; one of them is now deputy chief of staff of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). Worst of all, the IDF ignored a High Court order not to kill suspected militants when arrests could be made. Such killings are war crimes. In effect, the Kam verdict means the Israeli press will be less able to scrutinise official bodies, and whistleblowers, especially in the armed forces, will hesitate to reveal official crimes of any kind. In combination with the documented increase in repressive action against Israeli citizens who happen to be Arabs, the evidence shows the Zionist state in the worst possible light.
Keywords: Israel-Palestine relations, West Bank
Israel is brainchild of western countries.They want some window to watch in oil rich middle east.Without help of western countries Israel never stand in meddle east.Logically morally and histrionically Israel have no right to establish a Jew state in Palestine, three thousand year back Jew`s forefather were staying there, if we use same logic what right white Christians have to to settle and established their nation on soil of Red Americans?.
@Sankar-: A democracy is no excuse for committing atrocities on any one. Such a country is far more worrying than a fascist dictatorship, as a democratic system carries a air of legitimacy. If democracy were an excuse then the 31 people given life sentences today should be celebrated as heros and ofcourse Modi should be given Bharat Ratna for facilitating the riots. The double game that India plays needs to be addressed too. We support the cause of Palestine and buy billions of dollars of "defense" equipment from Israel. We support Palestinian cause but shy away from addressing issues with Kashmir and North-eastern states, where our army equipped with these new "defence" equipment have a field day. Israel Defence Force has long since ceased to be a defence force. It is more sinister in its motives and work than any "terrorist" unit it claims to fight. Either Israelis are victims of mass propaganda to prop the worlds largest "defense" industry or they are simply complicit.
Is there any one who can punish Israel? No. The west is immune from any prosecution - Bush, Blair, Chenney and Rumsfield for war crimes? The US for its atrocities in every country it has invaded including Vietnam whose people were used as guinea pigs for their weapons of mass destruction. What happened to Mordechai Vanunu? He was also imprisoned without a squeak from the Whitehouse. Maybe if Iran did build its nuclear bomb, the Israelis would behave.
This cannot be good for the image of Israel. For years, Israel has claimed to be the only open,fair and democratic Government in the Arab World, ruled by Military Dictators and Kings. Now, Israel is seen to be resorting to tactics that it has criticized in its neighbours. The need to survive as a nation in an openly hostile region must not be the justification for Israel to lose its moral compass. I hope that wiser heads in Israel set the course right again!
It is definitely deplorable that this is happening in a so-called democratic nation. However, we first have our own issues to resolve.Also, what will US have to say about this? It is always ready to point fingers at us with regard to Gujarat and other issues. While I do not say that what happened in Gujarat is right, I only believe that US, a staunch supporter of Israel, itself lives in a glass house and therefore, should not throw stones at others!
There we go again! Even assuming all that you have said is true, which country does not have state secrets which it does not want to be known by those inimical to their interests? Why go so far, why not look at what's going in Kashmir? So many dead, mass graves, people disappearing, rights abuses of the worst kind etc. Take Israel's enemies - never mind what they do to their enemies. The plight of their own citizen at the hands of the security apparatus is quite pitiable as we have been seeing in Egypt, Syria, Iran, Yemen, Tunisia, Libya, and all the usual culprits. Nothing seems to merit any editorials from The Hindu, but true to form, pick on Israel to continue demonising this tiny nation that fights for survival everyday. By constantly publishing such one sided news, a whole generation of Israel haters have been created by your paper.
Rachel Corrie
who Faced the bulldozers of the settlers
On the land of Palestinians
Mowed down by the butchers of truth
Exposed yesterday’s victims of holocaust
now persecuting the Palestinians
The Israelis have to stop their endless atrocities against Palestinians and acting as a proxy for the interests of America in the region.Both Palestinians and Israelis have to co-exist as they can't expel each other.
It's good that The Hindu reported this, India being the biggest democratic nation must reflect on these issues. Besides there is a wrong perception being created that Palestanians are terrorists by nature. They have turned to terrorism because of continued repression by Israel and neglection by US (who act like international police elsewhere). That doesn't mean I am supporting terrorism used by Palestine. But it's high time their grievances must be addressed because revenge is an infinite loop. No matter how legitimate your cause is, terrorism cannot be justified. It's good Mahmoud Abbas has submitted it's bid for UN's permanent seat. That puts Israel in precarious position and puts pressure on them diplomatically. Israel commits war crimes just because of US's unconditional support.
Israel has always act more or less a dictator country... how people call it a democratic country with freedom of religion etc. They have played a dirty war games in Palestine, killing innocent people , human right violations. Israel have always violated UN norms and they act in hegemony . In Israel media is suppressed to a level that in 2003 a journalist RACHEL CORRIE was killed by Israel defence forces by a bulldozer in Gaza strip. who will forget the MAVI MARMARA incident and GOLDSTONE REPORT.... INDIA as nation support Palestine cause. Israel politics has be to criticized and not praised..
Israel is a democratic country with freedom of religion and a very strong judicial system. This gives the country a tremendous amount of legitimacy that is lacking in other countries. I will rather have "The Hindu" focus on the lack of human rights and the tremendous amount of injustice meted out to its citizens by some of the major countries in our neighborhood in China, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar to name a few. This is more significant than criticizing a country that has the will and the ability to take care of terrorists attacking its citizens.
Please Email the Editor