The bonds of the Jewish people are thick and multilayered. A
moser breaks them all.
At the top what brings us together is Torah and mitzvos, the
common content and mission of all normative Jewish lives. But
typically there is also a closeness based on culture,
language, and common experiences that is very strong even
when true Torah ties are weakened or nonexistent. Finally,
there is a basic bond of blood that links all Jews,
throughout the world and across the ages. All of these
function together.
In Jewish society, a moser was considered the lowest
level to which a Jew could sink. Intellectuals who challenged
Jewish traditions were fought bitterly. Modern people who
betrayed our traditions in order to become rich or powerful
were mourned. But none became the object of scorn and
derision that was the lot of the moser — one who
exploited the hatred of the non-Jews in order to undermine
other Jews. Such a figure had severed all ties to the Jewish
people and to Judaism, and joined forces with those who hated
Jews. Those whom the moser handed over could not
expect any sort of fairness or justice from the non-Jewish
authorities, whose hatred of Jews was the underlying basis
for all their actions.
Now our mosrim wear ties and present themselves as
enlightened and cultured. In the old galuti times, the
mosrim used to be embarrassed to show their faces in
Jewish society, and they would do their work in secret. In
the progressive, modern State of Israel, the mosrim
enjoy favorable press reports and a certain amount of public
prestige, as if they were fighting heroically for justice.
Last week the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, an
organization based in London that, despite its ostensibly
neutral name, is openly an advocate for Palestinian political
interests, was joined by the Israeli organization Yesh Gvul
in filing a complaint against current IDF commander Dan
Chalutz and former IDF commander Moshe Yaalon for war crimes,
because of their involvement in the assassination of mass
murderer Salah Shehadeh, a very competent Hamas mass murderer
who had the blood of dozens of innocent Israelis (and no few
Palestinians) on his hands and who was planning the murder of
many more.
Shehadeh was staying in a building that was in the middle of
a residential neighborhood. Along with Shehadeh, 14 others
were reported killed. Of those others, it is known that at
least one was another Hamas fighter. Another was Shehadeh's
wife, who was publicly photographed dressed as a fighter,
meaning that she was also a legitimate target and not an
innocent bystander.
According to international law, Israel had every legal and
moral right to target Shehadeh and, according to
international law, the responsibility for the collateral
damage and destruction is Shehadeh's, not Israel's, since he
lived among noncombatants, in violation of the rules of
warfare.
In a reasonable society it would be understood that even the
most tolerant democracy cannot allow its own citizens to join
forces with its enemies and to harass (or worse) dedicated
public servants who are acting as agents of the community of
which they are a part by sending them to judgment in hostile
courts.
Yesh Gvul has a goal — to bring Israeli army officers
to trial for what it calls "war crimes." It said openly that
if the Israeli High Court is unwilling to do what it wants,
then it will appeal to British courts. If groups try to
override the High Court by working within the Israeli system
that makes the legislature sovereign they are criticized by
the Left for "bypassing the High Court." Appealing to
European courts, however, is OK.
This behavior threatens the fundamental rights of the Jewish
community in Israel, since if they cannot kill those who want
to kill them, the results are obvious. It also, and thereby,
sets them apart from the entire community.
A healthy state would not hesitate to ostracize such
organizations. If the Israeli state were reasonable, it would
ban such organizations, and would not read the media that
regard them as heroes.
