Over the years, hundreds of terrorists imprisoned or arrested in Israel starved - some were caught in their disgrace eating in secret, but some lasted for long periods. The common denominator for all of them was that they finally received the long-awaited reward and were released from prison. The terrorist Khader Adnan who died this week was among the most persistent. One way or another, it can be said that the death of a hunger striker in prison was only a matter of time.
Adnan was active in the Islamic Jihad, a murderous body that is declared by many countries as a terrorist organization, and was therefore arrested numerous times. At one point, together with other terrorists, he learned a new patent: hunger strike. In 2012, the security establishment was at a loss for him until he subdued it, and after his continued detention, he was released. The release was delayed a little to preserve the damaged honor of the State of Israel, but in the end he was able to impose his will.
I know Adnan closely. In the summer of 2015, I was sent as an IOS attorney to carry out one of the most difficult tasks assigned to me as part of my military services, and that was to summarize, once again, the terms of the surrender of the State of Israel to him after I sat hungry for 52 days. I will never forget the feeling of failure and loneliness I felt from the sickening scene in a hospital The doctor gathered that night, after things were concluded and voices of jubilation were heard from his supporters. Again, he succeeded.
In those days, before the Knesset, an amendment to the Prisons Ordinance intended to “prevent health damage to prisoners on hunger strike”. The goal was to make it possible to provide medical treatment to a striking terrorist even without his consent. The law is required to balance the individual’s autonomy in deciding whether to receive medical treatment, and the fact that we are dealing with imprisoned terrorists who do not have the right to decide whether or not they violate the prison laws. In those days, we hoped that the amendment would bring important news and neutralize the hunger strikes, but in Israel as in Israel: immediately after the legislation, the Israel Medical Association (RAI) together with others petitioned the High Court demanding that the amendment be declared inhumane and unconstitutional.
A year later, the petitioners received a rare slap in the face . In a comprehensive ruling, the supreme judges accepted all the state’s claims and confirmed the constitutionality of the amendment. Among other things, they referred to similar arrangements that allow the granting of medical treatment against the will of the imprisoned in other Western countries such as France, the USA, Australia, Germany and Austria.
Despite the approval from the High Court, the RA persisted in its refusal to implement the law, and it remains a dead letter. The terrorists understood the weakness and continued the hunger strikes, when over time they added a new component: every time a terrorist from the Islamic Jihad went hungry for a long time, and the security system “delayed” to surrender, his friends in Gaza threatened an attack. either a round of combat or the release of the terrorist. Simple horror balance. Adnan’s death is supposed to mark the beginning of a new era. The hunger striking terrorists don’t want to die, they just got used to submitting to blackmail. Now they will understand that the State of Israel no longer surrenders to the threat.
