The Supreme Court ruled last week that the procedure, designed to facilitate the peaceful and safe arrest of wanted Arab terrorists in Judea and Samaria, is illegal. The tactic involves asking a neighbor of the sought terrorist(s) to knock on their door and inform the occupants that the army seeks their arrest and demands their surrender. The operative assumption is that Arabs would not open fire or otherwise harm their own compatriots - whereas soldiers approaching the home are clearly at grave risk.
However, the most senior forum of the Court, including Chief Justice Aharon Barak and Deputy Chief Justice Mishael Heshin, ruled that even if the neighbor agrees to take part, the procedure is likely to endanger him without sufficient justification. "In balancing the military and humanitarian considerations," Barak wrote, "the considerations that forbid the army to use local residents have the upper hand."
The army immediately announced that it was suspending use of the procedure. However, Mofaz will now attempt to convince the Court to overturn the decision. He has asked to show the Court evidence showing that 1,200 terrorists have been arrested as a result of the procedure in question, while the cases in which the neighbors have been harmed are very rare. No one has been hurt at all in recent years, due to the IDF's accumulated experience using the procedure.
It is assumed that the Court will accept the unusual request, and will reconsider the issue in an expanded panel of five or seven justices.
Col. (res.) Rabbi Moshe Hager, head of the pre-military yeshiva academy in Yatir and a Deputy Division Commander during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, told Arutz-7 on Tuesday, "I recall only one incident in which the neighbor was hurt. This one case does not justify outlawing the procedure altogether, thus endangering our soldiers. The use of this tactic has saved our soldiers from harm many times."
Before learning of Mofaz's request, Hager said that the Supreme Court decision is "detached from reality, as well as irresponsible." He said, however, that the army would seek and find other ways to safely carry out arrests of wanted terrorists.
Asked about the security situation in the Southern Hevron Hills region in southern Judea, Rabbi Col. Hager said, "During the Oslo War, up until Operation Defensive Shield, the situation was very bad, but afterwards it improved. In the past half-year, however, Molotov cocktails have started up again, as well as rock-throwings and attempted stabbings. If the IDF does not take action, the day will not be far off when the terrorist organizations will once again revert to using firearms."
However, the most senior forum of the Court, including Chief Justice Aharon Barak and Deputy Chief Justice Mishael Heshin, ruled that even if the neighbor agrees to take part, the procedure is likely to endanger him without sufficient justification. "In balancing the military and humanitarian considerations," Barak wrote, "the considerations that forbid the army to use local residents have the upper hand."
The army immediately announced that it was suspending use of the procedure. However, Mofaz will now attempt to convince the Court to overturn the decision. He has asked to show the Court evidence showing that 1,200 terrorists have been arrested as a result of the procedure in question, while the cases in which the neighbors have been harmed are very rare. No one has been hurt at all in recent years, due to the IDF's accumulated experience using the procedure.
It is assumed that the Court will accept the unusual request, and will reconsider the issue in an expanded panel of five or seven justices.
Col. (res.) Rabbi Moshe Hager, head of the pre-military yeshiva academy in Yatir and a Deputy Division Commander during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, told Arutz-7 on Tuesday, "I recall only one incident in which the neighbor was hurt. This one case does not justify outlawing the procedure altogether, thus endangering our soldiers. The use of this tactic has saved our soldiers from harm many times."
Before learning of Mofaz's request, Hager said that the Supreme Court decision is "detached from reality, as well as irresponsible." He said, however, that the army would seek and find other ways to safely carry out arrests of wanted terrorists.
Asked about the security situation in the Southern Hevron Hills region in southern Judea, Rabbi Col. Hager said, "During the Oslo War, up until Operation Defensive Shield, the situation was very bad, but afterwards it improved. In the past half-year, however, Molotov cocktails have started up again, as well as rock-throwings and attempted stabbings. If the IDF does not take action, the day will not be far off when the terrorist organizations will once again revert to using firearms."