Rabbis For Human Rights

Israel has always prided itself in the notion of the “purity of the arms.” This principle has enabled us to build a wall of moral protection against the corruptive influence that any war can have, even a war, which is determined to be morally necessary, like our war on terrorism. It is difficult to discern what type of war places a strain on the maintenance of this lofty concept – a conventional one waged against another country, or the unconventional one Israel is currently embroiled in with the Palestinian Authority. But, to discuss the application of the “purity of arms” in any relative manner only compromises its moral integrity.

The other day, the sixty-five-year old stepmother of a wanted man was killed in the demolition of their Gaza home by Israeli soldiers. I emphasize that the demolition was carried out by Israeli soldiers, because to say that it was executed by the IDF is to depersonalize this act and hundreds others like this that have taken place over the last few months by other Israeli soldiers-in-arms. We are told that the building was searched ahead of time, but apparently not that well – because no one gave a damn. And so, we read of innocent Palestinians being killed with impunity on a daily basis.

The concept of “purity of arms” has turned into a philosophy of “casual concern for non-combatants.” And while one can understand the emotional reaction of a soldier to the death of a colleague, especially in the course of battle, military discipline must contain the natural desire for revenge. The reason that commanders in the field are providing a knowing wink to such aberrant behavior is because there is an approving nod from the highest echelons within the military establishment, which leads directly to the prime minister himself.

For me, a simple soldier, who fought in the Lebanon War, it is clear that the breakdown of the army ethic that embraced the “purity of arms,” formally began in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps. For Arik Sharon, his disregard for the ethical dimension of warfare began well before June, 1982 – in Gaza, in Kibya. But then, the impact of his immoral ways was only felt on the platoon level. During the Lebanon War, his impact was universal, for now he was Israel’s Defense Minister. But his total disrespect for the “purity of arms” caught up with him, as he was summarily dismissed from his position, as the slaughter of innocent Palestinian refugees was carried out under his watch, under his knowledge, and no doubt, with his encouragement.

It is twenty years later, and once more, Sharon has assumed a position of power where he can set the standards of Israeli warfare. And that which has guided him throughout his military career, reaching its shameful climax during the Lebanon War, has dictated the way in which he has ordered the IDF to pursue its war against terrorism – with complete contempt for the moral standards that have been at the core of the Israeli army since its formation. Thus, we witness daily the indiscriminate murder of Palestinian civilians: not those caught in a cross-fire, but the sixty-five-year old woman crushed to death in a home demolition and the two-and-a-half-year old child shot dead while playing outside his home.

For our prime minister, “all is fair in love and war.” Well, we have a Jewish answer to such a crass aphorism: “Justice, justice you shall pursue” (Deuteronomy. 16:20). The rabbis tell us that the word justice appears twice in order to tell us that a just cause must be pursued by just means. This biblical command is the forerunner of the IDF’s concept of “purity of arms,” which has been trampled by Mr. Sharon.

The world community may want to charge Mr. Sharon with war crimes because of his role in the Sabra and Shatilla massacre, but it is we, who should charge him with crimes of war because of his violation of the binding moral principles of the IDF that should have prevented that horror then and should prevent the continued killing of innocents now. For undermining the moral integrity of the Jewish people, Ariel Sharon stands accused in the court of Jewish decency. And for those of us who stand silent, in the words of the great Jewish theologian, Abraham Joshua Heshcel: “If we are not all guilty, we are all responsible.”