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October 25, 2002
Israel holds fine line
Security, civil rights a delicate balance, says prof.
PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Israel has done a remarkable job of balancing civil rights with
national security over its 54-year history, according to an Israeli
academic who visited Vancouver this week. More significantly, Israel
has proved a model of balance during times, such as the present,
when national security is particularly at risk, said Prof. Michael
Keren.
Keren spoke to a small group at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater
Vancouver (JCC) Sunday night on the subject Security and Civil Rights:
The Israeli Dilemma. A professor at Tel-Aviv University on sabbatical
at the University of Calgary, Keren brought a highly philosophical
approach to the subject, prefacing the main body of his remarks
with a far-reaching consideration of the development of global civil
society in the 20th century. Following the two world wars, there
has been a growing international acceptance of certain transcendent
values, which are idealized in the form of the United Nations and
the World Court at The Hague, Keren posited. For all intents, fascism
is a defeated ideology and, in the past 10 years, most communist
states have adopted free-market, democratic government models. The
age of big ideologies may be dead, he said.
Among his examples, Keren cited South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation
Committee as an example of a progressive new world order in which
the overthrow of a totalitarian regime brings rapprochement, rather
than retribution and a new form of totalitarianism.
As this new approach to international affairs was developing over
the past several decades, so was the state of Israel. Founded on
values that are both Jewish and democratic, Israel has faced peculiar
challenges due to the overwhelming presence of Arab states on its
borders, as well as Arab citizens of Israel within. The treatment
of Arab populations – citizens and non-citizens – is an
important measure of the nation's success as a civil society, said
Keren.
Keren takes personal pride in polling results indicating that Israelis
accept that their country must carefully balance the rights of individuals
with the security of the whole. On a scale of one to seven (one
emphasizing national security and seven representing the utmost
preservation of individual liberties) Israelis traditionally average
about 3.5 in opinion polls –- a result that Keren slyly suggested
might be expected from an emphatically moderate country like Canada
rather than a passionate political entity like Israel. Even in the
face of the current terror, polling suggests the balance has tipped
only slightly – the most recent poll indicates the Israeli
population is just below three on the scale.
This refusal to overreact to recent events is a triumph, said the
professor. Israelis' refusal to abandon the rule of law for the
sake of potential national security indicates they understand the
delicacy of the balance between freedom and security, he said.
"It's a shaky balance and we have to be very careful about
it," said Keren.
Discussing the nuances of this balance in an academic setting with
a well-informed Vancouver audience is difficult enough, he noted.
Maintaining public support for that balance when bombs are going
off in Israeli neighborhoods is a testament to the wisdom and patience
of the Israeli population, he said.
"People like simple solutions when they are under fear,"
he said.
Israelis put a great deal of trust in the infrastructure of their
democracy, Keren said, and the judicial system is an example of
Israel's insistence on the rule of civil law above the sort of brute
reaction that is common in some other countries.
In his lecture, Keren cited several instances in which the Israeli
Supreme Court protected civil liberties in cases where national
security threatened to override them.
The trial of Adolf Eichmann was a precedent-setting case, said Keren.
Israel could easily have assassinated Eichmann on the street in
South America, where he was living in the 1950s. Instead, then-prime
minister David Ben-Gurion insisted the war criminal be brought to
trial. Despite the emotional cataclysm the trial wrought among Holocaust
survivors and other Israelis, strict judicial decorum was scrupulously
maintained. Keren, who has had rare access to Ben-Gurion's personal
papers, said the eminent Israeli was determined that Israel would
use the Eichmann case as a template for the young democracy's approach
to even the most unspeakable crimes.
"Ben-Gurion really tried to send a message to the world,"
said Keren. For the first time in history, persecutors of Jews were
brought before a courtroom and justice was served.
A member of the audience suggested the example was flawed because
Eichmann's was, in fact, the only case of capital punishment in
Israel. Keren pointed out that this did not represent a breach of
law, saying it is a mistaken belief that Israel does not permit
the death penalty. That ultimate punishment is allowed under Israeli
law, Keren said, solely for perpetrators of Nazi terror during the
Third Reich.
He also noted other cases, including a recent Supreme Court decision
that said Israel could not arbitrarily extradite family members
of terrorists unless the family members themselves were involved
in plots.
Keren acknowledged the successes so far in maintaining the balance
between security and civil rights, but added he could not predict
the future. Ending on a somewhat pessimistic note, he suggested
the mix of fear (92 per cent of Israelis say they are "terrified"
or "very terrified" that something will happen to themselves
or a loved one) and a lack of leadership on the Palestinian side
leave the promise of peace in limbo.
Keren was speaking as part of the JCC's adult programming. He is
head of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Centre for the Media of
the Jewish People at Tel-Aviv University and the author of numerous
books, including Ben-Gurion and the Intellectuals: Power, Knowledge
and Charisma, Professionals against Populism: The Peres Government
and Democracy and the recently published Zichroni v. State
of Israel: The Biography of a Civil Rights Lawyer.
Pat Johnson is a native Vancouverite, a journalist and
commentator.
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