It has been reported that Labor Party leaders Amram Mitzna and Avraham Burg, together with initiator Yossi Beilin, are planning to sign an agreement with the PLO-Palestinian Authority ?on behalf? of Israel.
The agreement stipulates that the Temple Mount and most of the Old City of Jerusalem will come under Arab control. The Western Wall will remain Israeli, as will Zion and Dung Gates, but the other city gates will be under Arab control. Jews will be permitted, according to the agreement, to ?walk freely? from Jaffa Gate to the Jewish Quarter. Furthermore, the cities of Ariel and Efrat, as well as most other Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza will be dismantled and evacuated, according to the agreement. All in all, 100,000 Jews would be evacuated from their homes, according to Beilin/Mitzna/Burg.
The ?agreement? is, of course, illegal, since only the government has the authority to initiate and enter into agreements with foreign entities. Moreover, such an agreement is an attempted coup d?etat. In fact, it is quite possible that the Israelis involved in this agreement have violated the law of treason. I refer to sections 97, 99 and 100 of the Penal Law. Four kinds of acts are prohibited by this law:
1. The category of acts which "impair the sovereignty" of the State of Israel ? section 97(a);
2. The category of acts which "impair the integrity" of the State of Israel ? section 97(b);
3. The category of acts under section 99 that give assistance to an "enemy" in war against Israel, which the Law specifically states includes a terrorist organization;
4. The category of acts in section 100, which evince an intention or resolve to commit one of the acts prohibited by sections 97 and 99.
The punishment prescribed in the Penal Law for the first three kinds of acts of treason is death or imprisonment for life. The harshness of the punishment emphasizes the seriousness with which the State of Israel views the crime of treason, which it seeks to prevent by the punishment it imposes upon offenders.
Attorney General Eliakim Rubenstein should investigate, or be called upon to investigate, the matter and, if Messrs. Mitzna, Burg, and Beilin have violated the law of treason, they should be indicted and prosecuted.
Leaving aside the question of whether Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres is behind this agreement ? although this should be determined ? what about the position of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon? By this I mean only the following: since the Prime Minister is sworn to uphold the law ? and this applies to every Knesset Member and cabinet minister ? is he not obligated to query the Attorney General for a legal opinion on the matter in question? If so, and if he fails in this regard, it may then be possible for private citizens of Israel to initiate a suit against the Prime Minister and/or the Mitzna/Burg/Beilin triumvirate before the Supreme Court.
By the way, since the Supreme Court is very fond of extending its jurisdiction via the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom, should the Government enter into any agreement that requires the evacuation of Jews from Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, it should be challenged before the court as a blatant violation of the human dignity and freedom of these Jews. Even though the court will almost certainly dismiss such a suit, it should nonetheless be initiated.
In any event, the Labor-Palestinian Authority ?agreement? should also be exposed as a violation of basic principles of democracy, since it undermines the ability of the democratically elected government of Israel to fulfill its functions.
If this ?agreement? goes unchallenged in the courts, the country will sink into unmitigated anarchy. This will lead either to tyranny or to the end of Israel as a viable state.
The agreement stipulates that the Temple Mount and most of the Old City of Jerusalem will come under Arab control. The Western Wall will remain Israeli, as will Zion and Dung Gates, but the other city gates will be under Arab control. Jews will be permitted, according to the agreement, to ?walk freely? from Jaffa Gate to the Jewish Quarter. Furthermore, the cities of Ariel and Efrat, as well as most other Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza will be dismantled and evacuated, according to the agreement. All in all, 100,000 Jews would be evacuated from their homes, according to Beilin/Mitzna/Burg.
The ?agreement? is, of course, illegal, since only the government has the authority to initiate and enter into agreements with foreign entities. Moreover, such an agreement is an attempted coup d?etat. In fact, it is quite possible that the Israelis involved in this agreement have violated the law of treason. I refer to sections 97, 99 and 100 of the Penal Law. Four kinds of acts are prohibited by this law:
1. The category of acts which "impair the sovereignty" of the State of Israel ? section 97(a);
2. The category of acts which "impair the integrity" of the State of Israel ? section 97(b);
3. The category of acts under section 99 that give assistance to an "enemy" in war against Israel, which the Law specifically states includes a terrorist organization;
4. The category of acts in section 100, which evince an intention or resolve to commit one of the acts prohibited by sections 97 and 99.
The punishment prescribed in the Penal Law for the first three kinds of acts of treason is death or imprisonment for life. The harshness of the punishment emphasizes the seriousness with which the State of Israel views the crime of treason, which it seeks to prevent by the punishment it imposes upon offenders.
Attorney General Eliakim Rubenstein should investigate, or be called upon to investigate, the matter and, if Messrs. Mitzna, Burg, and Beilin have violated the law of treason, they should be indicted and prosecuted.
Leaving aside the question of whether Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres is behind this agreement ? although this should be determined ? what about the position of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon? By this I mean only the following: since the Prime Minister is sworn to uphold the law ? and this applies to every Knesset Member and cabinet minister ? is he not obligated to query the Attorney General for a legal opinion on the matter in question? If so, and if he fails in this regard, it may then be possible for private citizens of Israel to initiate a suit against the Prime Minister and/or the Mitzna/Burg/Beilin triumvirate before the Supreme Court.
By the way, since the Supreme Court is very fond of extending its jurisdiction via the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom, should the Government enter into any agreement that requires the evacuation of Jews from Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, it should be challenged before the court as a blatant violation of the human dignity and freedom of these Jews. Even though the court will almost certainly dismiss such a suit, it should nonetheless be initiated.
In any event, the Labor-Palestinian Authority ?agreement? should also be exposed as a violation of basic principles of democracy, since it undermines the ability of the democratically elected government of Israel to fulfill its functions.
If this ?agreement? goes unchallenged in the courts, the country will sink into unmitigated anarchy. This will lead either to tyranny or to the end of Israel as a viable state.