Israeli National Security Minister says 100 Doctors have volunteered to carry out Executions of Palestinians.

Has such ethical lapses permeated the Jewish Medical Community?

Israeli far-right minister wears ‘greasy rope’ badge during Knesset debate on death penalty for Palestinians. [Screengrab/AA]

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Tuesday that 100 doctors have volunteered to carry out executions of Palestinian prisoners. If true, this would be a fact that would seem to raise both ethical and social concerns about the Israeli Medical profession.

For example, the participation of medical professionals in American executions is a controversial topic, with moral and legal implications. The practice is proscribed by the American Medical Association, as defined in its Code of Medical Ethics. The American Society of Anesthesiologists endorses this position, stating that lethal injections “can never conform to the science, art and practice of anesthesiology”.

In this country pharmaceutical companies that have manufactured drugs used in cocktails that were administered in past executions have stopped manufacturing them in the U.S. and will not sell to states for the purpose of executions.

The practice is proscribed in the Hippocratic Oath, an ethical guide for the medical profession, albeit with no legal or constitutional force, which states:

I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan.

If Ben-Gvir is correct, his statement that he has 100 Doctors willing to carry out executions of Palestinian prisoners seems to offer questionable view under normal medical ethics. One that begs to ask if the Israeli view of ethical and social norms have or are shifting and seemingly present a change within the view of societal norms.

Ben-Gvir addressed the Knesset in favor of proceeding with executions since all living hostages have been returned. His remarks drew sharp criticism from Einat Ovadia, director general of the Zolat Institute for Equality and Human Rights. She said that Ben-Gvir was “the last person” who should be speaking about deterrence, governance or security, and that his views on punishment should not be sought. “The death penalty is not a punishment; it is murder,” Ovadia said. Ben-Gvir responded accusing her of supporting murderers and Hamas.

IMA POSITION

Israeli Medical Association (IMA) is on record of saying that the participation of doctors in executions is prohibited by professional codes. The IMA explained its stance aligns with the World Medical Association’s guidance, in particular the Tokyo Declaration, which expressly forbids physicians from participating in torture, or cruel, inhuman, or degrading procedures.

ISRAELI ETHICS

There has been a lot made by Israeli leaders about how the Israeli military is one of the most ethical inthe world. That is a position at one time I would have no reason to counter. Now, from my observations, I believe that is a myth that has died tens of thousands of times. I am not alone in this assessment because there has been a lot made of how the general public no longer accepts the notion that there is is anyting uniquely ethical about the conduct of the Israeli military. In fact there has been some who have done a deeper dive into the history and point to extensive conduct for years that has challenged any notion of some kind of unique ethical considerations.

Targeting of aid workers, doctors, civil defence workers, nurses, and other medical providers has been well established, in spite of the International Laws protecting them from being targeted.

The Press is another example of military targeting that has been widespread and extended to family members. Also, not legal targets.

There has been perhaps a higher degree of respect in the middle east of respect placed upon poets and literary scholars. It appears that many poets and their families have been targeted as well and marked for death. It seems that much like journalists that record the history of the military action against Palestinians, poets that write of the human experiance of everyday Gaza are considered by the Israeli government to be a threat to the world view of Israel. There are countless poets that have been martyred and their families in many instances have been killed as well. There is strong evidence that many of them moved their families often, in part because of neighborhoods coming under attack, but also, as it has been known, that like journalists, the government has seemed to keep really good tabs on poets & their families and have constantly been under observation and attack.

IDF ACTIONS TARGETING MEDICAL PERSONNEL

During the Israeli campaigns *IDF forces killed over 1,400 medical personnel, 27 Red Crescent paramedics, and 111 Civil Defence personnel as part of a systematic campaign to destroy the Gaza Strip’s health and relief infrastructure *to kill Palestinians, while simultaneously aiming to destroy their very means of subsistence. The attacks often seemed targeted. Many of these have been highly documented and have been turned over to the International Criminal Court as violations of the Geneva Convention.

ISRAELI TARGETING PRESS

Israel has gone to great pains to keep coverage of the war in Gaza under wraps. Mainline press outlets were barred from sending journalists to cover the war. News organizations had to rely largely on Palestinian Gaza residents and ingenuity to cover the day to day actions. Israel began tracking journalists and their families. The highest number of war journalists ever killed in any war have perished at the hands of the IDF. In many instances their families including children were often targeted.

JEWISH ETHICS

I know from many of my jewish friends n the states, there is a strong indignation for the right-wing government of Netanyahu. Their zionist influence seems to many to be viewed as a counter to the prospects of peace in the region. How much this mirrors the general jesish public in Israel I can’t say, but it would appear that many are likewise at odds with the government / military establishment that currently exists.

Many Jews find a high level of discomfort with the Palestanian genocide and comports with the Holocaust. A place many verbally affirm that they never wanted to go there.

Netanyahu and his government have created a legacy of genocide. Around the world, Israel as a nation now appears to carry that same stain. It is clear that not all of the Israeli public is comfortable with this moniker