JERUSALEM (VINnews) — In yet another source of friction between Israel’s legislative and judiciary branches, a bill being proposed by MK Zvika Fogel (Otzma Yehudit) has come under sharp criticism from Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara.
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The bill, proposed by Jewish Force MK Zvika Fogel, would make Israel’s security forces immune from prosecution in the event of their fulfilling their duties during an operation or terrorist attack. However the attorney-general is concerned of the international repercussions and implications of such a law.
“The law will harm the status of IDF soldiers and expose them to international criminal proceedings,” the Attorney General stated.
According to legal sources, until now the International Court of Justice in The Hague and other international legal bodies have been reluctant to undertake prosecutions of Israeli soldiers due to the prestige and independence of Israel’s Supreme Court and the military prosecutor’s office. This bill, if passed, would open the door for IDF soldiers to be prosecuted by international courts as there would be no legal body in Israel to investigate the soldiers’ actions in Israel, they say.
In the bill’s explanatory notes, MK Fogel writes: “It is unacceptable that when a member of the security forces fulfills his duties during an operation or a terrorist attack, he is then led away from the scene in handcuffs. Accordingly, it is unacceptable that members of the security forces undergo lengthy interrogations while being tortured, and that the decisions in their cases are made by jurists and not by senior officers who have combat experience and knowledge about the dynamics that develop on the battlefield, and who have experienced incidents similar to those that the members of the security forces experienced.
Major General Uzi Dayan expressed this well, in the testimony he gave during the trial of the soldier Elor Azaria: ‘Incidents that happen in the operational field should not be brought to the legal field.'”
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation will discuss and vote on the bill today.
Qualified immunity is the Bedrock of the American policing system. Why should this be any different?
They’ll have to get in line behind Russian, Ukrainian, Iranian, Columbian, Saudi Arabian and others armed and police forces. It might concern some U.S. police forces too (para-military isn’t well differentiated from military)
She needs to be fired. Like in the USA the sitting govt should appoint an AG who then promises to be impartial. What kind of democracy is Israel ?