The Case of Meir Ettinger: A Continuing Blight on the Israel Judicial System

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22 Iyar 5776

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***BREAKING NEWS***

7:27 pm: IDF soldier stabbed in Tel Aviv. Evacuated with serious wounds to the upper torso. Palestinian terrorist captured shortly thereafter.

UPDATES 6 pm Israel time

…Palestinian terror so far today (Monday)…

The three terrorists who carried out the stabbing attack against the women near Government House three weeks ago have been captured by Israeli security personnel.

…Palestinian terror yesterday (Sunday)…

At 8: 13 pm, an Israeli was wounded by shattered glass when the bus he was riding on was attacked by terrorists on Uzi Narkis Street in Jerusalem.

A few minutes before, at 8:06 pm, another bus was assaulted by terrorists in the Hevron Hills. No Israelis were physically wounded.

At 8:00 pm, a third bus was struck on the Husan Bypass Road in Gush Etzion. The bus was badly damaged, but no Israelis were physically wounded.

Elsewhere during the day, terrorists attacked Israeli motorists with “rocks” and firebombs near the Maccabim checkpoint.

…Hated by his “own people” and devoid of legitimacy…

When you stop and think about it dear reader, it has been absolutely absurd over the years to watch the international community embrace Mahmoud Abbas as the “legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”

After all, Abbas is reviled by a majority of Palestinians–and has been so afraid of that fact that he has refused to allow any presidential elections for years. The best that anyone can say is that Abbas is the unelected president of the Palestinian Authority.

He would not be even that if he were not propped up by the Israeli government.

A little incident that occurred a couple of weeks ago illustrates the point. Abbas had a road named for him that runs beside his palatial compound in Ramallah, and a ceremony was held to unveil the “Abbas Street” sign:

That’s a white-haired Abbas using his left hand to unveil the sign.

The next morning the sign looked like this:

Somebody doesn’t like Abbas. That “somebody” is the Palestinians.

Since it was blotted out, the sign has not been replaced or cleaned.

…Bennett and Netanyahu come to their senses…

Finally, after five days of tense standoff, Education Minister Naftali Bennett and PM Netanyahu agreed to compromise offered by Health Minister Litzmann. For the time being, there will be a “temporary military secretary” to the security cabinet until something more permanent can be worked out.

The coalition is now expanded, and Lieberman will be sworn in as Defense Minister in the coming week.

…The new Knesset “question period…

A little noticed reform of the Knesset will go into effect in the coming weeks. Government officials will be subjected to an hour of questions by the opposition similar to what happens in the British Parliament.

Each Knesset session will have ten days on which question periods take place. Supposedly, each questioner will have two minutes to ask a question, and the answerer will have three minutes to answer.

The first Minister to be grilled will be Naftali Bennett.

TODAY’S BLOG:

Bloodied but unbowed, Meir Ettinger will emerge from prison on Wednesday stronger than he ever was before. He has the Israeli judicial system to thank for turning him into a folk hero.

Meir Ettinger, the grandson and namesake of Rabbi Meir Kahane, will finally be released from Eshel Prison in Be’er Sheva on Wednesday. 

Ettinger has served 10 months–all of them in solitary confinement. All he has ever been accused of is being the head of a Jewish nationalist group.

He was never charged with a crime, never indicted, denied adequate legal representation, and denied access to his family.  His case marks a low point for the Israeli judicial system which completely abandoned him and completely ignored his civil rights.

Almost as egregious as his incarceration are the terms of his release:

1. Ettinger is barred from entering Jerusalem for the next 6 months.

2. Ettinger is barred from entering his home community of Yad Binyamin for the next six months.

3. Ettinger is barred from entering Judea and Samaria for the next 12 months.

4. Ettinger is confined to house arrest for 4 months (one might ask “house arrest” where since he is barred from returning to his home.)

5. Ettinger is barred from any contact with 92 of his friends.

The restrictions are unprecedented and are, again, a blight on the Israeli judiciary system. 

Why are the restrictions so punitive? Obviously, security officials are infuriated that Ettinger never capitulated during his days and months of harsh interrogations. He refused to admit to any of the accusations against him, and he refused to implicate anybody in anything.

Inasmuch as Ettinger’s imprisonment and terms of release were all orchestrated by outgoing “Defense” Minister Moshe Ya’alon, we can only hope that incoming Defense Minister Lieberman will relax some of the terms as time passes.