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Israel's Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said that he's proposing a policy to abolish the Israeli practice of returning the corpses of terrorists. He "instructed the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] and the defense establishment on Tuesday to stop the total release of terrorist bodies," an English-language statement from his office read.
The minister says that the ramification of the announcement is that “all the bodies of terrorists that Israel holds and will hold in the future will not be released, regardless of the terrorist’s organizational affiliation and the nature of the attack he committed or attempted to carry out.”
So, if the terrorist was a Hamasshole, Islamic Jihad, or any other terrorist group, the body will not be released. If the body is fully intact after being shot, it will not be released. And if the body parts of a suicide bomber are scooped up, they will not be released.
“Exceptional cases” would remain at the discretion of the defense minister “based on the circumstances,” says the statement, giving a case of child terrorists as one such example.
The minister acknowledges that the new policy is subject to the approval of the security cabinet, but this approval is projected to be gained.
Bennett says that it will be “introduced shortly” to the ministers, “as part of a broader deterrent process, and will come into effect after the [security] cabinet’s approval.”
MK Benny Gantz, of the Blue and White Party and a former military chief of staff, welcomed Bennett’s announcement but called for greater secrecy and sensitivity.
“This is a step in the right direction, but such decisions should be made in the cabinet rather than in the media. We have prisoners and missing people on the other side, and everything needs to be done and every effort made to bring them home,” Gantz told the same media he evidently hoped weren't paying attention.
The family of Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose body has been held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas since 2014, said that it backs the defense minister’s decision.
“It is inconceivable that while the soldiers are in the hands of Hamas, we will continue to release dead or living terrorists. Freeing terrorists is a prize that Hamas cannot be given while holding on to our soldiers and civilians,” said the Goldin family statement. [Hamas currently controls the Gaza Strip.]
The family has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take such a step, in a meeting with the premier, and Netanyahu is reported to have responded sympathetically, saying that he would examine the subject with the defense establishment.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has pledged to us that a ceasefire [with Hamas in the Gaza Strip] will not take place without bringing the boys home and we expect to see that the economic-civilian projects will not be promoted as long as our boys remain in Gaza,” said the Goldins.
“Exceptional cases” would remain at the discretion of the defense minister “based on the circumstances,” says the statement, giving a case of child terrorists as one such example.
The minister acknowledges that the new policy is subject to the approval of the security cabinet, but this approval is projected to be gained.
Bennett says that it will be “introduced shortly” to the ministers, “as part of a broader deterrent process, and will come into effect after the [security] cabinet’s approval.”
MK Benny Gantz, of the Blue and White Party and a former military chief of staff, welcomed Bennett’s announcement but called for greater secrecy and sensitivity.
“This is a step in the right direction, but such decisions should be made in the cabinet rather than in the media. We have prisoners and missing people on the other side, and everything needs to be done and every effort made to bring them home,” Gantz told the same media he evidently hoped weren't paying attention.
The family of Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose body has been held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas since 2014, said that it backs the defense minister’s decision.
“It is inconceivable that while the soldiers are in the hands of Hamas, we will continue to release dead or living terrorists. Freeing terrorists is a prize that Hamas cannot be given while holding on to our soldiers and civilians,” said the Goldin family statement. [Hamas currently controls the Gaza Strip.]
The family has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take such a step, in a meeting with the premier, and Netanyahu is reported to have responded sympathetically, saying that he would examine the subject with the defense establishment.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has pledged to us that a ceasefire [with Hamas in the Gaza Strip] will not take place without bringing the boys home and we expect to see that the economic-civilian projects will not be promoted as long as our boys remain in Gaza,” said the Goldins.
Holding onto the remains of terrorists and thus preventing them observable martyr status seems like a good idea.
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