Arrest Is Not Always An Easy, Or Possible, Option

To the editors:

While I commend The Crimson’s balanced and on-point opposition on pragmatic grounds to Israel’s assassination of Sheik Ahmed Yassin (Editorial, “Assassination Doesn’t Work,” March 25), the moral critique that the editors put forth is unfounded and inaccurate. First, Israel had previously jailed Yassin, but he was freed in an unfortunate prisoner exchange with Jordan in 1997 after two Israeli Mossad agents were captured in Jordan following a botched assassination attempt. Second, arresting the spiritual leader of a militant group that virtually controls large areas of the Gaza strip is a near-impossible task that puts many lives—both Israeli and Palestinian—at risk. Finally, although circumstances were different in this instance, most Israeli targeted killings are directed at those actively planning terrorist attacks, such that devising and executing elaborate arrest operations in what amounts to a war zone might not be feasible.

All this is to say that Israel knows morally that “the proper place for terrorists is a jail cell,” but Israel cannot always place them there. Consequently, placing them in a graveyard can be morally justified when killing is more beneficial and less costly than leaving the terrorists alive and free to kill one’s own citizens. Moral decisions are not made lightly in Israel, and The Crimson is in no place to judge their ethics.

ALON GEVA ’05

March 25, 2004