The Head of the Center for National Defense Studies at Haifa University, Dr. Dan Shiftan, told Arutz Sheva that he has a hard time understanding the Prosecution's decision to compensate with millions of shekels the families of the Arab rioters who were killed in the October 2000 insurrection.
"The big problem with this matter is that Israel has in effect indirectly accepted responsibility for its actions and even if it is not written, the message here is clear for anyone to see,” he explained.
The October 2000 riots were a battle between Israel and its enemies, he said. “There was a riot by enemies against the State of Israel. Questions were asked, like whether or not it was justified to fire, and the things were investigated by the Or Committee, and to this day there are all kinds of thoughts and disagreements within our nation – and unfortunately there are people among us who think like the Arabs, but that is really not the important thing.”
"Even if they learned a lesson, every lesson has an expiry date."
'This was a war'
"The important thing to remember,” he added, “is that this was a war by Palestinians against the State of Israel. They identified with the enemies of Israel. Their riots did not erupt because of economic hardship or legitimate protest against one thing or another, but rather, there was identification with the enemy here.”
Dr. Shiftan said that the Prosecution's decision to waive the demand that the families sign a commitment not to file charges against the state of Israel was a bad one. “This was a mistaken decision but I am not surprised at some of our decisions when we do not demand of the people fighting us to decide which side they are on. There is a tendency on our side to strive to reach arrangements so that in the future we do not need to face legal decisions. Because there is a concern, sometimes, that the judges will reach worse decisions, so they prefer to reach an arrangement. The general impression is that the judges would make matters worse.”
The Arabs living in Israel need to get clearer messages from Israeli society, Shiftan said. “Even if they learned a lesson, every lesson has an expiry date, and today it is important to know what message Israeli society is giving them. If we give them the message that they can do something like this again, or if Israeli society continues to always feel that it is guilty, then the Arabs will behave accordingly. Today they understand that the Israeli society will not treat their rebellion with understanding, and that is why in the three last wars since October 2000 – Defensive Shield, the Second Lebanon War and Cast Lead – despite identifying with our enemies they did not take to the streets because they realized that Israeli society would not accept it.”