The February 2011 issue of IDI’s Terrorism and Democracy Newsletter includes four articles. Three highlight recent decisions of the Israeli Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice (HCJ). The first article reviews a decision by the HCJ to reject a petition brought by the owner of a West Bank currency exchange business against Israeli authorities’ confiscation of terror related monies. The HCJ held that when a private person tries to hide funds belonging to an unlawful association by intermingling it with “legal money,” he runs the risk that all of the funds in question will be confiscated. The second article focuses on a decision by the HCJ to reject a petition against the use of artillery shells by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the vicinity of civilian targets. The HCJ rejected the petition since the IDF had already suspended the use of artillery shells in such circumstances and the petition was therefore moot. The third article presents the HCJ's rejection of a petition criticizing the Attorney General for not opening a criminal investigation against Prime Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of General Staff Shaul Mofaz in connection with a targeted killing that took place in December 2000. This decision cited the Court's lack of suitability to investigate the factual allegations in the original complaint.
The final article this month presents a short summary of a paper submitted by the IDI Terror and Democracy project to the Public Commission Examining the Maritime Incident of 31 May, 2010 (the Turkel Commission). The paper was written as a response to the Position Paper presented to the Commission by the IDF Military Advocate General (MAG), regarding the investigation of allegations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations by the IDF. The full paper will soon be available in English on the IDI website.
IDI’s monthly Terrorism and Democracy Newsletter aims to shed light on some relatively unknown measures and policies adopted by Israel or related to Israel, and to foster discussion on the balance between security interests on one hand, and democratic principles and human rights on the other hand. It surveys recent developments in Israeli law and practices that are intended to reduce or repress terrorist threats. IDI believes that a greater knowledge of Israel's experience in this area may be of value to other societies. We also believe that engaging in international and comparative discourse about Israel's experience is valuable to Israeli society.
Terrorism and Democracy Newsletter: Issue No. 26, February 2011