Deterrence necessary to fight terror

Sunday, September 16, 2018, 15:45 Following the September 16 terror attack in front of a shopping center in the Etzion Bloc, Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher stated that decisions by governmental and judicial authorities in Israel have been detrimental to combating terror.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher: “The shocking murder in the Etzion Bloc awakens every Jewish heart to the need for personal and national soul-searching. We at Honenu, who stand with many bereaved families at the forefront of the legal battle against murderous terrorists, cannot remain indifferent following numerous decisions by government and judicial authorities which are weakening the fight against terror.
“Only today (Sunday) we were informed by the media of a most dangerous decision which poses a danger greater than even that posed by the Shalit Deal: a decision regarding a committee which will determine which terrorists will receive life sentences. Until this day it was clear that a terrorist who had murdered, at least as far as the law was concerned, would sit in prison until his last day. Today the committee has given hope to terrorists who murder, that they will benefit from Israeli prison conditions, and then be released as heroes in their maturity. I call on everyone who cares for the lives of thousands of Jews to speak out against this scandalous and contemptible decision.
“The decision by the Chief Military Advocate General to refrain from demolishing the house of a terrorist who has the slightest history of an emotional disorder, despite the fact that his family and terrorist organizations classify him as a ‘shahid’, with all of the relevant ramifications, constitutes a precedent that damages Israel’s deterrence factor and endangers the security of the entire country! Refraining from completely demolishing a terrorist’s house, as in the case of the terrorist who murdered three members of the Salomon family in Halamish, and the authorization by a Major-General for the family of the terrorist to build a fancy house where the original house was demolished, constitutes an incentive to terror.
“Exonerating terrorist murderers of the crimes of murder and attempted murder, such as by claiming uncertainty of intent to murder because [the assailants] were not able to carry out their schemes, weakens the war on terror. We call on the leaders of the State, guardians of law and order, to undergo a thorough soul-searching and to unite in an uncompromising stance against terror.”