Leading rabbis, among them heads of hesder yeshivot and members of the Yesha Rabbis Council, issued a proclamation today stating that Israel's security needs override the welfare of Arab civilians living in the terror-infested Palestinian Authority.
"There is no need to avoid hitting or even killing Palestinians who are not involved in terrorism when this will harm the efforts to defend Israeli lives," the statement reads. "Jewish Law provides that during war time, such as that which we are now experiencing, there is no difference between the populace and the army. If a danger arises to Israeli soldiers or to civilians, Jewish ethics teach that our lives take precedence over others."
Rabbi Danny Izak, head of Yeshivat Beit Orot in Jerusalem, elaborated on the matter for Arutz-7 today: "Obviously, if there is a way of carrying out an operation without harming civilians, then this should be done; we have no interest in killing others, unlike Esau... But for instance, when arch-terrorists consciously sit among their own civilians in order to protect themselves, and the army concludes that these terrorists must be stopped - then the operation must be carried out. Obviously, everything must be taken into account, including the number of casualties and even world public opinion... But when there is no other choice, then we must carry out operations that might kill others. We must recognize that Kassam rockets are a direct danger to life - even though G-d has wrought many miracles, and hardly anyone has been hurt... To do otherwise is warped ethics, because we see the results: The army sometimes refrains from carrying out necessary operations that would save lives merely because it is afraid of the criticism; and our enemies see this, and take advantage of it. This leads to the loss of Jewish lives."
In an article earlier this year entitled, "The Laws of War Weren't Written for This War," Harvard Law Prof. Alan Dershowitz wrote, "Democracies must be legally empowered to attack terrorists who hide among civilians, so long as proportional forces is employed. Civilians who are killed while being used as human shields by terrorists must be deemed the victims of the terrorists who have chosen to hide among them, rather than those of the democracies who may have fired the fatal shot."
"There is no need to avoid hitting or even killing Palestinians who are not involved in terrorism when this will harm the efforts to defend Israeli lives," the statement reads. "Jewish Law provides that during war time, such as that which we are now experiencing, there is no difference between the populace and the army. If a danger arises to Israeli soldiers or to civilians, Jewish ethics teach that our lives take precedence over others."
Rabbi Danny Izak, head of Yeshivat Beit Orot in Jerusalem, elaborated on the matter for Arutz-7 today: "Obviously, if there is a way of carrying out an operation without harming civilians, then this should be done; we have no interest in killing others, unlike Esau... But for instance, when arch-terrorists consciously sit among their own civilians in order to protect themselves, and the army concludes that these terrorists must be stopped - then the operation must be carried out. Obviously, everything must be taken into account, including the number of casualties and even world public opinion... But when there is no other choice, then we must carry out operations that might kill others. We must recognize that Kassam rockets are a direct danger to life - even though G-d has wrought many miracles, and hardly anyone has been hurt... To do otherwise is warped ethics, because we see the results: The army sometimes refrains from carrying out necessary operations that would save lives merely because it is afraid of the criticism; and our enemies see this, and take advantage of it. This leads to the loss of Jewish lives."
In an article earlier this year entitled, "The Laws of War Weren't Written for This War," Harvard Law Prof. Alan Dershowitz wrote, "Democracies must be legally empowered to attack terrorists who hide among civilians, so long as proportional forces is employed. Civilians who are killed while being used as human shields by terrorists must be deemed the victims of the terrorists who have chosen to hide among them, rather than those of the democracies who may have fired the fatal shot."