IDF Traitors to be prosecuted

[muman613]

This story makes me wonder what is going on with the IDF. Only a few short years ago I, and most Americans, were under the impression that the IDF was one of the most admirable fighting forces on the planet. It is hard to reconcile with the stories we hear today of troops which are not even allowed to fire live ammunition against the enemy, spies turning over military secrets to the enemy, and now this story about IDF officers who willingly and maliciously disabled security systems designed to protect the Jewish people from their enemies. How can such traitors even be allowed near sensitive information or sites? I realize that with mandatory service it is hard to sort which officers can be trusted and which are likely to be traitors to their own people but there should be someone making sure that these things don't happen...


http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/146111#.Ti9Niiy6SL8

IDF Prosecuting Four Intel Officers

IDF to prosecute four field intelligence officers for shutting of critical surveillance equipment and 'putting national security at risk.'
Gavriel Queenann

IDF prosecutors are pursuing charges against four female IDF field intelligence officers for allegedly shutting off surveillance equipment and thus failing to collect information on Israel's northern border.

The four women were arrested a month ago, but the incident did not pass Israel's military censor until this week.

Some of the details in the case remain under gag order, but according to the IDF's Northern Command, charges will be pressed against the four soldiers for overstepping authority to the point of putting national security at risk, failing to follow orders, and destroying property.

IDF prosecutors are also mulling charging the suspects with assisting the enemy, but observers say such a severe accusation making it into the indictement is unlikely.

Over the last few months, the soldiers switched off the systems that they were in charge of on several occasions. These surveillance systems, IDF sources say, collect information of high importance about activity on the Lebanese side of the 'Blue Line,' which serves as the defacto Israel-Lebanon border.

An investigation into the suspects' conduct was launched after a commander complained.

The soldier's motives, or whether or not they admitted culpability, remains unknown. However, they reportedly told their commanders that they found their job conditions very difficult and couldn’t bear the pressure.

IDF sources said the complaint against the soldiers is very serious and must be thoroughly investigated, and if the soldiers are found to be guilty of misconduct they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

[The proud Jew]

Muman my question is what are the rules for capital punishment in the torah? I remember hearing a story of how david hamelech ordered traitors to be killed.

[muman613]

Muman my question is what are the rules for capital punishment in the torah? I remember hearing a story of how david hamelech ordered traitors to be killed.

Well this is another topic which should not be dealt with lightly. The Torah proscribes the death penalty for several transgressions. But the Torah also lays out a legal system which requires a high level of confidence that the person who is punished is guilty of the capital crime he or she is accused of.

The Torah holds Jewish life in high esteem. It is very bad for a system of justice to impose penalties on a person who is not guilty of the crime. Thus the Torah places a high level of proof on the prosecution in order to come to a capital punishment. Basically this level requires 2 or more male witnesses of the actual crime, and the witness must inform the criminal that it is prohibited to carry out the crime. There are some other requirements which are involved which are in order to prevent the guilty from being put to death. Judaism also has the concept of Manslaughter which is not the same as murder, if a person should accidentally kill a fellow he or she must live in a city of refuge. The Torah mandates that these cities of refuge be maintained for those who accidentally kill another.

I will look for more material on this topic but I will have to post it when I get home from work tonight.

http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword_cdo/kid/9432/jewish/Cities-of-Refuge-Orei-Miklat.htm
Cities of Refuge (Orei Miklat): In biblical times, six cities in the Land of Israel were designated as "cities of refuge." A person who accidentally killed someone found safe haven there from avenging relatives.

http://www.aish.com/tp/i/m/48923837.html

THE RULES

1    The perpetrator of a homicide must flee to one of the cities of refuge immediately following the death of the victim in order to avoid being killed by the avenger, the victim's next of kin. This applies to all homicides, inadvertent or premeditated, and regardless of whether the perpetrator is liable for the homicide under due process of law or not. The only exception is a homicide that is clearly the result of freak accident.

2    The court then returns the perpetrator under escort to face judgment in the venue where the act was committed. If he is found guilty of murder, he is duly executed. If the court finds that the homicide was the result of a freak accident, totally unforeseeable by anyone, he is exonerated and returns to normal life. But if the homicide is the result of a foreseeable accident (i.e. there was some degree of negligence involved), he must flee once again to a city of sanctuary to avoid being killed by the avenger, who still has the right to kill him.

3    The perpetrator of a homicide must remain in a city of sanctuary until the High Priest who held office when his act was committed dies. If he leaves the city of sanctuary for any reason before the death of the High Priest, he faces being killed by the avenger. He is safe only in the confines of a city of sanctuary.

4    If the homicide was the result of the reckless disregard of human life, or if it was an act of premeditated murder that is not judiciable under Torah law (for example, there was no formal warning issued to the murderer prior to the commission of his act, or if there is only circumstantial evidence of perpetration, or only a single eye witness) even the Cities of Sanctuary cannot shelter him from the avenger, who has the right to kill him anywhere.

The whole process sounds like it is taken straight out of the Wild West. How can we reconcile this apparently savage process with the high standard of civilized behavior generally demanded by the Torah in interpersonal interactions? What happened to due process of law?

http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/199/Q4/
Joel L. Nafziger wrote:

   Dear Rabbi,

    Why was the prescribed method of execution for extreme transgressions stoning? Why not some other method?

Dear Joel L. Nafziger,

First of all, it should be noted that the death penalty was rarely carried out. Our sages teach, "a court which puts a person to death once every seventy years is called a violent court."

Sekila, usually translated as stoning, involved pushing the condemned off a high place backwards so that he broke his neck when he fell. He was first given a heavy sedative.

The Arizal (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria) points out that sekila was the sentence for offenses directly against G-d or against the "image of G-d" within mankind. Therefore this method was prescribed by the Torah, since by destroying the human form, it destroys the tzelem Elokim - image of G-d - as part of the process. Also, death by falling from a great height symbolizes the person, created in G-d's image, falling spiritually and morally by doing the sin, and hence causing his own destruction.

http://www.shemayisrael.com/dafyomi2/makos/backgrnd/ma-in-02.htm

3) [line 5] LOKEH (MALKUS)
(a) It is a Mitzvah to administer the punishment of Malkus Arba'im (Torah lashes) to one who is liable to Malkus, as the Torah states, "v'Hipilo ha'Shofet v'Hikahu" - "and the judge shall cast him down and whip him" (Devarim 25:2). Malkus d'Oraisa are administered in Eretz Yisrael by a court of three judges who are Semuchin (Halachically ordained), whether the Beis ha'Mikdash stands or not (RAMBAM Hilchos Sanhedrin 16:2). Courts outside of Eretz Yisrael can administer only Makas Mardus (Rabbinic lashes, see Background to Kidushin 70:32).
(b) A person is only liable to Malkus Arba'im if he transgresses a *Lav* (a negative commandment) of the Torah that is not "modified," such as a Lav shebi'Chelalos (see Background to Nazir 38:20), a Lav she'Nitak l'Aseh (see Background to Yoma 85:26), etc. A prohibition that is implied by a positive commandment is never punishable by Malkus. In addition, in order to be liable he must transgress in front of witnesses after receiving a proper warning.
(c) Malkos are administered in numbers of three, with a maximum amount of thirty-nine for each transgression. The culprit is examined to determine how many lashes he can withstand. He stands leaning against a post and his clothes are ripped until his heart is revealed. The agent of Beis Din, a Torah scholar who is specifically weak, stands on a rock behind him, whipping one third of the lashes on his chest and two thirds on his back, one third on each shoulder (Makos 22b).
(d) During the whipping, the most distinguished judge of the court reads the verse "Im Lo Sishmor La'asos Es Kol Divrei ha'Torah ha'Zos...v'Hifla HaSh-m Es Makoscha..." - "If you will not be careful to perform all the words of this Torah...then HaSh-m will make your blows extraordinary..." (Devarim 28:58-59). For each blow, the deputy judge counts out loud the number of each lash and a third judge calls out "Hakehu!" - "Whip him!" If the culprit dies from the lashing, the agent of Beis Din is exempt from any punishment; however, if he administers an extra lash due to a mistake in the count, and the extra lash causes the culprit to die, he must go to Galus (exile, see Background to Bava Kama 32:20).

4) [line 6] LIGLOS (GALUS / AREI MIKLAT)
(a) A person who murders intentionally after having been previously warned is liable to the death penalty. A person who murders unintentionally is exempt from the death penalty, but is punished with Galus (banishment, exile).
(b) When it is proven that a person killed unintentionally, he is banished to one of the six Arei Miklat (cities of refuge) or one of the forty-two cities of the Leviyim. He must stay there and not leave the city or its Techum for any reason whatsoever until the death of the Kohen Gadol who served at the time that he was sentenced to banishment.
(c) If the unintentional murderer leaves his city of refuge, the Go'el ha'Dam (the closest relative of the murdered person) is permitted to avenge the death of his relative and kill the murderer.