Using Bureaucracy to Fight Terror

Is Israel really using all the punitive sanctions at its disposal to combat terror?

A decision by the Interior Minister today demonstrates clearly that the answer is no.

Check out the following from Yediot Aharonot:

4 terrorists to lose Israeli ID cards

by Doron Sheffer

Interior Minister Pines-Paz decides to strip east Jerusalem residents of their permanent residency rights due to involvement in series of terror attacks; terrorists refused to express regret for their actions

The Interior Minister’s decision is of course correct. But what is inexplicable is that a terrorist’s residency rights are not automatically annulled once he or she is convicted of involvement in an attack.

This should be made into a statutory requirement, rather than being left up to the discretion of the Minister who happens to be in power.

When a state finds itself under attack, it must use the various means at its disposal to protect itself and its citizens.

The permanent residency rights that the four terrorists had were – as their name implies – rights, and if they chose to abuse them in order to murder dozens of Israeli citizens, then it only seems logical to take them away.

Not only to punish those who exploit these rights, but to deter others from doing the same.

It is time for Israel to whip its bureaucracy into shape, and to start thinking more creatively about how to use the levers of power to combat terror more effectively.

Bureaucrats excel at driving people mad and making their life a living hell – so what better way to punish terrorists and their conspirators then by unleashing some bureaucracy against them.

Free Pollard Now

When Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meets US President George W. Bush in Texas, it seems safe to say that they will not have any trouble finding issues to talk about.

From Israel’s planned Gaza withdrawal to the Palestinians’ ongoing failure to fight terror to the terrorists’ renewal of mortar attacks in the past few days, the two leaders will have to tackle an intricate and complex agenda.

But there is one matter which they should be able to resolve fairly easily, if only they have the will to do so: the case of Jonathan Pollard.

For the past 20 years, Pollard has been rotting in jail in the United States after being sentenced to life in prison for passing confidential information to Israel.

The facts of his case are well-known, so there is no need to repeat them here. But suffice it to say that the sentence he received violated the plea-bargain agreement he made with the US government, and that spies convicted of working for America’s enemies have received far more lenient terms of imprisonment than Pollard did.

Prime Minister Sharon has demonstrated a decided lack of interest in the case, doing virtually nothing to seek clemency for him – and that has got to change. Whatever one may think of Pollard and his actions, the fact is that he worked on Israel’s behalf and it is therefore the Government’s responsibility to help him.

With Sharon doing his best to please the American government in just about every possible sphere, there is simply no reason why he can’t “cash in” a chip or two and ask Bush to set Pollard free.

After all, Pollard did the crime, and he has done the time. And now it is time to bring him home.

Who's Afraid of Public Opinion?

He has led men into battle, braved enemy gunfire and engaged in some of Israel’s most daring and well-known military operations. But for all the courage he has shown on the battlefield, when it comes to the political arena Ariel Sharon has suddenly lost his nerve.

“There will definitely be no referendum,” Sharon told reporters at the Knesset yesterday, referring to mounting demands that the Israeli people be allowed to vote on his Gaza withdrawal plan. “The public supports the disengagement plan,” he insisted, “as does the Knesset.”

And yet, Sharon’s statement actually raises more questions than it answers. If indeed he is so sure that the country backs his move, then why is he afraid to put it to the test of public opinion? And if a majority actually opposes such a plan, then how legitimate would any withdrawal actually be?

Sharon also sought to argue that a referendum would divide the nation still further – but that is simply untrue. The whole idea of giving the public a voice on the issue is to stifle the growing split within the country, because the outcome would necessarily result in the bulk of the Israeli public accepting whatever the majority would decide.

Moreover, if Sharon refuses to hold a referendum, and goes ahead with the withdrawal anyway, it will leave an open wound on Israel’s national psyche. Rightly or wrongly, huge portions of the public feel that Sharon has no mandate to pull out from Gaza, leaving a heavy scent of illegitimacy hanging over the entire affair.

The only way to dispel that notion, and to re-unite the country, is to hold a referendum as soon as possible.

Deep down, I think that Sharon knows that. But whether or not he still has the courage of his convictions, as he did long ago during his military career, only time will tell.