Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Jewish Business News

World News

CIA Torture Culture Sought Shelter in Israeli High Court Decision

Senator Dianne Feinstein

When our biblical prophets spoke of Israel becoming a light unto the nations, they probably did not have this one in mind. CIA lawyers used an Israeli Supreme Court ruling to justify the use of torture, as was revealed in the Senate Intelligence Committee report on torture released Tuesday.

The report suggests the CIA’s Office of General Counsel used the “Israeli example” as establishing that “torture was necessary to prevent imminent, significant, physical harm to persons, where there is no other available means to prevent the harm.”

Please help us out :
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at office@jewishbusinessnews.com.
Thank you.

By the “Israeli example, ” the CIA attorneys meant the Landau Commission of 1987, followed by Supreme Court rulings that basically say torture is bad, but it’s OK to use “moderate physical pressures” in “ticking bomb” situations.

How long before all torture becomes classified as “moderate” and all interrogations are “ticking bombs?” And how long before moderate physical pressure gets re-released as “enhanced interrogation techniques?” Not long, apparently. But now, as a result, Israel’s name is stained by the blood spilled in CIA black prisons around the planet. Good on us…

Senate Committee chair Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Jewish Democrat from California, said: “The CIA’s actions a decade ago are a stain on our values and our history… Releasing this report is an important step to restore our values and show the world that we are in fact a just and lawful society.”

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), another Jewish Democrat, welcomed the report: “The exhaustive report from the Senate Intelligence Committee documents that the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques were not effective and violated international commitments and the core principles of the United States.”

“It also resulted in fabricated information and did not lead to the collection of imminent threat intelligence, ” Cardin said. “Years may have passed by since these egregious activities occurred, but the United States must confront the mistakes that were made as we responded to the devastating 9/11 attacks.”

And Rabbi Jill Jacobs, director of T’ruah: The Rabbinical Call for Human Rights, did a robust mia culpa: “As a nation, we have much to repent for – and true teshuvah, repentance, requires both acknowledgement and accountability for what we have done. The report is a step toward acknowledgement. A step toward accountability would be for Congress to act to make clear that the CIA will never be allowed to torture again.”

Not a minute too soon…



Newsletter



Advertisement

You May Also Like

World News

In the 15th Nov 2015 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:   ·         A new Israeli treatment brings hope to relapsed leukemia...

Entertainment

The Movie The Professional is what made Natalie Portman a Lolita.

Travel

After two decades without a rating system in Israel, at the end of 2012 an international tender for hotel rating was published.  Invited to place bids...

VC, Investments

You may not become a millionaire, but there is a lot to learn from George Soros.