Israeli “liberals” make light of sexual assault and assassinations by the IDF

Roi Maor By Roi Maor February 3, 2011 | Edit

In one day, Israel’s most liberal newspaper made light of sexual assault in the IDF, and the country’s most liberal institution, the High Court of Justice, made light of its own rulings in regards to IDF assassinations

Amos Harel, a senior Ha’aretz reporter, writes [Heb] about the aftermath of Yoav Galant’s botched appointment to IDF Chief of Staff:

Netanyahu and Barak emphasize that careful scrutiny will be required into the past conduct of the candidates [for IDF Chief Staff position]. Perhaps they cheated on high school exam, perhaps they scratched a neighboring car in the parking lot and did not report it, perhaps they touched some female sergeant.

Just in case, you should check it all, Barak was told the day before yesterday. Including the female sergeant thing.

Both the emphasis and the translation are mine, because this paragraph (as well as a few others) was omitted from the article’s English version. But in any language, the implication is terrible: to compare an act of sexual assault and sexual harassment by a superior officer to scratching a car or cheating on an exam, is not just deeply sexist, it borders on the sociopathic.

And in related news, the High Court of Justice approved Yair Naveh’s appointment to interim IDF Chief of Staff, despite the fact that he ordered assassinations of Palestinians in the West Bank, in contravention of the High Court’s own rulings. The judges said there was nothing wrong with the nomination, because the military’s Judge Advocate General, and the civilian Attorney General, both agreed that the High Court’s ruling was not violated, despite clear evidence to the contrary.

Apparently lacking a sense of self-irony, the judges nonetheless sharply criticized General Naveh for saying to a reporter “get out of here with this talk of High Court rulings, I don’t know when these rulings were issued and when not.” With a straight face, the honorable justices were shocked, simply shocked, to learn that the General disrespects a High Court that does not enforce its own rulings.

In one day, Israel’s most liberal newspaper made light of sexual assault, and the country’s most liberal institution ruled that only its own judges have the right to make a mockery of themselves, when it comes to life and death decisions.

Roi Maor

I am an activist for social rights and human rights in Israel and Palestine, living in Tel Aviv. I’ve written several human rights reports and op-eds in ynet, Ha’aretz and the Jerusalem Post. Over the last few years, I volunteered and worked for several Israeli NGOs, including Yesh Din, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights. The views expressed in this blog are mine and mine alone, and do not necessarily represent the views of the organizations I work for.

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