Ha’aretz continue with their Salem witch trials of the religious right, with this provocative headline in today’s online edition:
I say provocative, even though this is, indeed, what the rabbis have ostensibly said. It is provocative insofar as it is designed to elicit a negative response against these Rabbis, who care not for human life. And how do I know this?
1. We are dealing with Ha’aretz
2. Look at the very next story reported underneath this one: Settlers prevent evacuation of illegal outpost. Both stories are thematically linked. No prizes for guessing that the theme relates to the right-wing and their lack of reasonableness.
But let’s look deeper into the issue. Here is more on what the Rabbis have said.
A group of rabbis, heads of yeshivas from the West Bank and the rabbinical council of Yesha (West Bank and Gaza settlements) have issued a public call to the government to toughen its fighting policies in the territories even at the cost of civilian lives, declaring that the army should show less regard for the welfare of the Palestinians if terrorists are hiding in their midst.
The call, sent in a letter to Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, was issued by a number of prominent hardline rabbis, including Haim Druckman, the head of the Bnei Akiva religious youth group; Eliezer Melamed, the head of Har Bracha yeshiva; and Yuval Sharlo, a head of a yeshiva in Petah Tikva which combines Torah learning with active IDF service.“There is no war in the world in which it is possible to delineate entirely between the population and the [enemy] army, neither in the U.S. war in Iraq, the Russian war in Chechnya, nor in Israel’s wars with its enemies.” the rabbis wrote.The rabbis’ statement posed the question, “Should the IDF fight the enemy, if civilians [on the other side] will be killed, or should the IDF refrain from fighting, and thus endanger our civilians?” The rabbis quote the sage Rabbi Akiva in responding that “Our lives come first.”
The point is as follows: if faced with the choice of killing civilians accidentally during the course of anti-terror operations, or risk being killed yourself, the IDF should take the course of action which may result in the death of the civilians. The reason for this is that it is hard to distinguish between the civilian population and the terrorists in their midst.
The Rabbis are not advocating the killing of civilians. Anyone with any knowledge of Jewish law knows that human life is sacred, no matter what the person’s religion. If civilian casualties can be avoided, they should be. The proviso being that you should not unnecessarily risk your own life to protect the lives of these people.
I happen to agree with the Rabbis. The factor that makes this course of action ethical is the presence of civilians who either actively support the terrorists, or, at the very least, are allowing them to operate from within their midst. In my mind, there are two possible scenarios:
1. The terrorists outnumber the “peaceful” civilians, who are too weak to prevent them from operating from within their midst. If this is so, the oft used argument that the terrorists are in the minority is false. In such a case, there is no room for negotiating with the PLO Arabs, since they are mostly terrorists who must be fought.
2. The terrorists are outnumbered by the majority of “peaceful”civilians. If this is so, the civilians have the moral obligation to prevent the terrorists from operating from within their midst. Since they outnumber them, they have the means to force them out if they really want to. The question is: do they really want to?
In either scenario, it is ethical that the IDF do what it takes to root out the terror, even if this involves possible harm to PLO Arab civilians, if no alternatives exist, which simultaneously involve less risk to civilians and no greater risk to soldiers.
I will end this with a quote by Rabbi Simmons from Aish HaTorah:
Sometimes war is necessary. Judaism teaches that while the supreme value is life, we’re not pacifists. Wiping out evil is also part of justice. Dangerous disputes must be resolved, because if you choose to leave evil alone — it will eventually attack you (Rashi, Deut. 20:12).People today don’t relate to the concept that if you don’t destroy evil, it will destroy you. Today, most Westerners grow up in quiet neighborhoods, and never experience war, persecution and racism. So it’s easy to pontificate peace and brotherhood at the expense of defense.
Update: The more right-wing Jerusalem Post have now reported the same story, with the almost identical headline Rabbis: Fight terror even if civilians are killed, which tends to undermine my position that Ha’aretz were being intentionally provocative.
