Heshin and Barak [pictured, left and right, respectively] recently found themselves on opposite sides regarding the legality of a law forbidding Arabs of the Palestinian Authority from becoming Israeli citizens merely for having married Israelis. Barak wrote the minority opinion rejecting the law, claiming it violated basic civil rights, while Heshin authored the majority opinion in favor of it.
Barak "is willing to have 30 or 50 people blow up in suicide attacks, as long as there are civil rights," Heshin told Haaretz.
This morning, however, after he saw the headline in print, Heshin expressed remorse. Speaking with Army Radio, Heshin said, "I haven't changed my mind, but the publication in the press caused me great sorrow... It would have been better had these things not been said. I am someone who quickly gets upset, and I am sorry about the remarks that were publicized."
Heshin explained that the remarks were taken out of context: "I was speaking like I was speaking with a friend who knows that you don't really mean it. A friend understands that you are angry at the idea, not at the man, and he knows that you don't mean what you said in all its intensity."
Heshin also elaborated on his recent majority opinion:
"I'm not willing to take a chance. Not in the Park Hotel [the site of the Passover seder bombing in which 29 people were murdered], not in Haifa, and not in exploding buses in Tel Aviv. Why should I take a chance? We're dealing with an enemy state, no matter how you look at it. After Pearl Harbor, when the U.S. entered the war against Japan, I don’t remember hearing that 10,000 Japanese were allowed to marry Americans and come to America. It’s inconceivable. If someone comes in and cooperates with the terrorists and kills 4-5 Jews or Arabs, Israeli citizens, I don't agree. Why do I have to? There is no country in the world that has a constitutional right to bring a foreigner in to the country, and all the more so an enemy."
Atty. Yitzchak Fuchs, one of the leaders of the judicial battle against the Disengagement, said, "The cat is now out of the bag. Heshin's resignation allowed him to say what he wants, and his remarks express the sentiments of the public that is sick of Barak using his position to promote his radical leftist positions, at the expense of terrorist victims. How sad it is that a man like Barak, a genius who could have been a great Torah giant, served as the defender of Israel's enemies."
Barak "is willing to have 30 or 50 people blow up in suicide attacks, as long as there are civil rights," Heshin told Haaretz.
This morning, however, after he saw the headline in print, Heshin expressed remorse. Speaking with Army Radio, Heshin said, "I haven't changed my mind, but the publication in the press caused me great sorrow... It would have been better had these things not been said. I am someone who quickly gets upset, and I am sorry about the remarks that were publicized."
Heshin explained that the remarks were taken out of context: "I was speaking like I was speaking with a friend who knows that you don't really mean it. A friend understands that you are angry at the idea, not at the man, and he knows that you don't mean what you said in all its intensity."
Heshin also elaborated on his recent majority opinion:
"I'm not willing to take a chance. Not in the Park Hotel [the site of the Passover seder bombing in which 29 people were murdered], not in Haifa, and not in exploding buses in Tel Aviv. Why should I take a chance? We're dealing with an enemy state, no matter how you look at it. After Pearl Harbor, when the U.S. entered the war against Japan, I don’t remember hearing that 10,000 Japanese were allowed to marry Americans and come to America. It’s inconceivable. If someone comes in and cooperates with the terrorists and kills 4-5 Jews or Arabs, Israeli citizens, I don't agree. Why do I have to? There is no country in the world that has a constitutional right to bring a foreigner in to the country, and all the more so an enemy."
Atty. Yitzchak Fuchs, one of the leaders of the judicial battle against the Disengagement, said, "The cat is now out of the bag. Heshin's resignation allowed him to say what he wants, and his remarks express the sentiments of the public that is sick of Barak using his position to promote his radical leftist positions, at the expense of terrorist victims. How sad it is that a man like Barak, a genius who could have been a great Torah giant, served as the defender of Israel's enemies."