IMRA'S WEEKLY COMMENTARY ON ISRAEL NATIONAL RADIO

There are many tens of thousands of illegal assault rifles in the Gaza Strip. Nothing would be easier for independent observations than piles of the assault rifles being carted off by American observers for destruction.

But Ha'aretz correspondent Amir Oren reports today that " Israel will not insist on collecting all the weapons in the hands of the militias. . . Personal weapons. . .may remain in the hands of the militiamen as long as they are stored and not publicly displayed."

"With a few hundred machine guns and mortars, a small army can take over an entire country, killing and wounding hundreds of thousands" Jeffrey Boutwell and Michael T. Klare "A Scourge of Small Arms" Scientific American - June 2000

That's "a few hundred machine guns". Not "a few thousand" or "tens of thousands".

Headline No.1: ISS (Shabak) head Avi Dichter said Israel must not transfer security authority to the PA in cities in the West Bank until the Palestinians have satisfactorily demonstrated that they have confiscated weapons and taken other measures to destroy the terror infrastructure within the Gaza Strip where they have just been transferred security authority. Dichter said he was certain that this was the Government's policy.

Headline No.2: Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz said Israel would hand over security authority to the Palestinians on Wednesday in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

That's right, the very same time that the minister of defense was announcing a withdrawal from a West Bank city, the head of the Shabak was saying he was certain the Government wasn't going to do such a thing.

Defense Minister Mofaz also made the incredible statement on Tuesday that Israel would reverse the new security arrangements if the security situation does not improve as compared to the pre-arrangement period.

Considering thre record breaking nuumber of Israelis who were murdered each week in the "pre-arrangement period" it is not clear how many Israelis the Palestinians can murder each week under the arrangment with it still being considered an "improvement" by DM Mofaz

When Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cabinet made a decision relating to the Roadmap, the decision included a series of conditions. Conditions that Sharon himself said were "red lines". Among these "red lines":

"2. Full performance will be a condition for progress between phases and for progress within phases. The first condition for progress will be the complete cessation of terror, violence and incitement."

Take note: "a condition for progress between phases and for progress within phases". That's "within phases".

The terrorists aren't being released within the framework of the Roadmap - it is an independent action by Israel.

The transfer of funds to the PA isn't within the framework of the Roadmap - it is an independent action by Israel.

The reduction of security measures isn't within the framework of the Roadmap - it is an independent action by Israel.

And since these are all independent of the Roadmap, they are not subject to the restrictions and limitations that the cabinet placed on the implementation of the Roadmap.

Which terrorists will Sharon release? The Prime Minister's Office says that it will be up to the ISS. And the ISS apparently will decide on the morally bereft basis of expectations regarding how the terrorist will act in the future rather than what the terrorist did in the past.

While the past actions of a terrorist are a matter of public record and can be readily categorized, expectations are a matter of conjecture. Conjecture that can be heavily influenced by pressure to release particular terrorists regardless of the consequences.

This approach strips third parties, be they elected officials or the general public, of the ability to effectively monitor the release process.

Prime Minister Sharon tried to silence Minister Binyamin Elon at the cabinet meeting this week when he raised concern about decisions Sharon was making. Mr. Sharon told Elon that he and the other ministers should limit their concerns to their own ministries.

Basic Law: The Government (2001) ... 4. The Government is collectively responsible to the Knesset; each Minister is responsible to the Prime Minister for the field of responsibility with which the Minister has been charged.

Minister Elon is responsible to Sharon for tourism, but as a member of the Government, Elon is collectively responsible for the actions of the Government.

And as people who hold collective responsibility for the actions of the government the ministers have the obligation - not option - obligation - to insure that the government adopts and executes proper policies. At the end of the day, each and every minister shares collective responsibility for this madness if it continues.

By the same token, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee has the authority to insist that the prime minister, defense minister and other officials submit themselves to their oversight.

Now more than possibly any time in the history of the Jewish State, it is critical that effective oversight gets the Government back on track.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis) (mail POB 982 Kfar Sava) Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730 INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il pager 03-6106666 subscriber 4811 Website: http://www.imra.org.il

#1 Assault weapons to stay?
There are many tens of thousands of illegal assault rifles in the Gaza Strip. Nothing would be easier for independent observations than piles of the assault rifles being carted off by American observers for destruction.
But Ha'aretz correspondent Amir Oren reports today that " Israel will not insist on collecting all the weapons in the hands of the militias. . . Personal weapons. . .may remain in the hands of the militiamen as long as they are stored and not publicly displayed."
Assault rifles aren't toys.
"With a few hundred machine guns and mortars, a small army can take over an entire country, killing and wounding hundreds of thousands" Jeffrey Boutwell and Michael T. Klare "A Scourge of Small Arms" Scientific American - June 2000

That's "a few hundred machine guns". Not "a few thousand" or "tens of thousands".

I don't know what happened to IMRA, but they used the term "militiamen" which means Terrorists.

There are many tens of thousands of illegal assault rifles in the Gaza Strip.

What's a "legal assault weapon" in Israel as opposed to an illegal one? Does the current assault weapon ban in the States have any bearing on this? My personal feeling is an American should have the right to own any caliber weapon. Does this right extend to other people or not?

Does this right extend to other people or not?

"Palestinians" are not Israeli citizens, therefore they have no rights as Israelis does, but rather rights under the PA terror regime. Israelis can own rifes, and many people living in outposts in the territories do have them.

My question was concerning the nature of an "assault weapon". What is it?

The thing with rights is- they're intrinsic. So if we think that people have a "right to bear arms" that means "laddy daddy every g==damned body" has the right to bear them. It's intrinsic to your actual self. It (the right) can't be taken away. I was just curious whether Israelis recognize this as a right or not and where they draw the line- what is an "assault weapon" and what is a "normal firearm". It has nothing to do with citizenship.

The thing with rights is- they're intrinsic. So if we think that people have a "right to bear arms" that means "laddy daddy every g==damned body" has the right to bear them. It's intrinsic to your actual self. It (the right) can't be taken away. I was just curious whether Israelis recognize this as a right or not and where they draw the line- what is an "assault weapon" and what is a "normal firearm". It has nothing to do with citizenship.

Ordinary people can, terrorists can not. Terrorists have no rights what so ever.

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