Look Who it Was Random video

Uri Avnery - When killing becomes an act of revenge (312/315)

72 views · Published 11 July 2017 · 4:43 · Indexed 21 September 2026

Channel: Web of Stories - Life Stories of Remarkable People · 2017 · News & Politics

Watch on YouTube

To listen to more of Uri Avnery’s stories, go to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFw4EQRLZvAoreWVLWLJDNaI

Uri Avnery (1923-2018) was an Israeli writer, journalist and peace activist. He was editor-in-chief of the weekly news magazine "HaOlam HaZeh" and founded the Gush Shalom peace movement. [Listener: Anat Saragusti; date recorded: 2017]

TRANSCRIPT: And there were other far-reaching implications. The Attorney General was [Yitzhak] Zamir, who later became a judge at the Supreme Court, and there was Justice [Dorit] Beinisch who was then an advocate, the State Attorney. Zamir was Attorney General, she was the State Attorney and they actually made these things public. Their adversaries spread the rumour that they were lovers and that is why they did this; there was all kinds of slander spread about them. But in the end they put them on trial, but before the trial even began, the President granted amnesty to everyone and no one was actually put on trial. Both Zamir and Beinisch were made Supreme Court Judges, and the whole dirty affair was just left. But I think she helped. Overall this matter helped shed some light on the General Security Service, the Shin Bet. The truth is that Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir had said at some point: 'I don't want terrorists to escape an attack alive', which was absolutely, obviously, illegal. But the chief of the Shin Bet at the time adhered to this rule. He thought that was what the government wanted, and he killed all four of the hijackers, who were children, young men, completely innocent, who had just gone out for an adventure – they didn't kill anyone. And, unfortunately, today this practice is still the rule. In other words, every two to three days one hears that a terrorist has stabbed or run over soldiers, and they killed him on the spot, even though there was no military need to kill him. I would say that this is even anti-military logic because if you catch a 'terrorist' alive, he can be a source of important information. This killing is not necessary for security reasons; it does not deter anyone, because whoever takes such action has already made his peace with God. And it makes no sense, militarily or politically. All it is is ugly, nasty revenge with which the public has probably been infected, and it doesn't do anything to improve the image of the people of Israel.

More from this channel