אלישע אודס (“הקטין” הנאשם במעורבות בפיגוע בדומא) עומד להתגייס לצה”ל
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The Israeli settler terror cell which murdered the Dawabsheh family and left an 18-month-old baby an orphan, was never fully prosecuted for its heinous crime. Only one member of the group was ever convicted. Two of the others had confessions overturned because the Shabak allegedly tortured them. One of the cell members, Israel Keller, was likely a Shabak informant (code-named, “The Rebellion”) who betrayed his handler and permitted the crime to go forward.
Israeli-American Elisha Odess, whose confession was disqualified by an Israeli court, has still not been convicted for his crime, though the legal case continues. Yediot reports that he now will be joining the IDF. There he can put all the skills he learned plotting to burn the Dawabsheh family to death to work on behalf of the Israeli state and in service to its military.
Imagine a similar circumstance in which an American white supremacist burns down a synagogue killing Jews, then has his conviction overturned on a technicality, and proceeds to enlist in the U.S. Army. That’s the situation we face with Odess marching around in uniform holding the same murderous views he held when he was merely a boy terrorist.
It offers further proof that there is no difference between the settler terrorists and the Israeli army itself, which harbors tens of thousands of soldiers holding the same views and implementing them through mass violence, up to and including murder.
It’s painfully ironic that two of the killers got off after the Supreme Court, bowing to pressure from the settler movement, ruled that confessions of Jews obtained by torture are inadmissible. While torture of Palestinians resulting in similar confessions are fully acceptable under the Israeli “justice” system. In fact, the most recent example of this is the near-murder of Samer al-Arbid by Shabak goon interrogators under the command of female unit head, “Nurit.’
Another irony is that Israeli media may not report Odess’ name because he became a murderer at the tender age of 16 (some reports say 17), which shields him from exposure. That didn’t help the 13-year-old Palestinian boy, Ahmad Manasra, who was beaten to within an inch of his life, then brought to Hadassah hospital where he was chained to his bed, and paraded before the Israeli media who spread his picture over the front pages of all the Israeli papers. The foreign ministry even did a media slideshow to highlight how nicely Israel treats its would-be Arab child “terrorists.” Though a minor and subject to much lesser charges than as an adult for his failed attempt to attack an Israeli Jewish boy on a bicycle, he was sentenced to years in jail. Israel’s justice system paid no attention to his status as a minor.
Rule of law? Rights of the accused? Due process? Democracy? All that falls by the wayside when the suspect is Palestinian.
Odess is one of the hundreds of thousands of American Jewish families which made aliyah and brought their racist, Judean supremacist views to settler-land. They are the vanguard of Israeli hate and racism. I view them as something like the Hitler Youth. Their passion and “idealism” for the cause fuel much of the worst violence and mayhem in the settler movement.
For this, we have only to thank all those Brooklyn Jewish Orthodox families who turned Israel into the cesspool of religious supremacism it has become. It represents the ultimate triumph of Meir Kahane and all he represented. He is certainly smiling up at his hasidim from the honored spot in which he is ensconced in Gehinom (“Hell”). He is Satan’s partner down there, ably assisted by that other notorious American-Israeli settler mass murderer, Baruch Goldstein.
“Imagine a similar circumstance in which an American white supremacist burns down a synagogue killing Jews, then has his conviction overturned on a technicality, and proceeds to enlist in the U.S. Army. ”
I am in no way exonerating the above person but I met someone here in Israel {a convert} who sat in Attica prison in the ’60’s for murdering two people and was given the choice of being a sniper in Vietnam or remaining in prison and he chose Vietnam. After the war he was converted by Chabad and then came to Israel. Eventually at the age of circa 68 he became a trans-gender. I don’t speak Yiddish but I think there is a good phrase to describe this ‘gay veis’.
Shit happens everywhere.
He will not be enlisted and you know that.
@ Moshe: He’s in an IDF preparatory yeshiva. Of course he’ll be accepted. What do you think the purpose of such an institution is? To turn out bakers or bankers or bricklayers?
Avram, yes shit happens everywhere, but it needs to be called out for what it is and means, especially when overlooked or supported. The response also should not be shrugged at with a “you do it too”. Else-wise there’s no moral basis for calling out what your enemy does.
Potter, it might need to be called out but to demonize a whole nation based on this is blackwashing.
@ Joshua: Excuse me? When settlers murder and the State does nothing about it, then yes, the entire nation is at fault and responsible for the injustice.
Words are no longer enough and expressions of horror are valueless because THIS IS the new Israel. It will not change just because of regime-change, the hate and anti-Arab violence has become so “normal” that even to “liberal” Israeli Jews have become numb to it and accept it.
Do nothing about it? Do you have any evidence that no one else has?
You have been blaming Israel for years for not solving the Bar Noar case though the police got much shit when it tried desperately to solve it and got led on by some criminals.
Some crimes aren’t solved everywhere. But you use it as ammunition. It doesn’t make you right. Just naive.
@ Joshua:
Yes, the courts have prolonged this case for three years. No one has been convicted, no one sentenced, no one jailed.
A completely false characterization of the case. The police found the murderer. They got one of the conspirators to become state’s witness. They he abandoned them after being threatened, and they no longer had any case and dropped the charges. THe murderer got off scot-free which is typical for Israeli police when they’re dealing with hate crimes, femicide, rape, etc.
More nonsense. The Israeli police clearance rate on crimes of violence against women, gays, Palestinians, etc. is abysmal. The clearance rate in other western countries is far higher. Israeli police are generally (with a few exceptions) corrupt and incompetent. But in these cases, even more so.
@Richard Silverstein: can you explain the characterization of throwing out a confession obtained through torture as a “technicality”? What is so technical about it? Does the state/you have other, reliable evidence establishing that this suspect/defendant is guilty of murder?
Second, regarding your reply to Moshe that “He’s in an IDF preparatory yeshiva. Of course he’ll be accepted” – if I’m not mistaken, Mechinot are largely autonomous and accept whomever they wish (with minimal legal eligibility requirements). So his being at a preparatory yeshiva does not show that the military will actually draft him.
@nisin: Both major suspects confessed to the murders. And They Were Indeed Guilty as my own security source confirmed. The court did not reject the confessions because they were not credible or because they were false . It rejected them because the Shabak used torture as part of the interrogation. The torture was the sole reason for dismissing them. I consider that a technicality in the sense that it did not consider the question of whether the confession was true, which is the heart of the matter in terms of determining guilt.
As for mechinot, the sole reason they exist is to funnel Orthodox boys into The army. They are a conduit to military service. Yeshiva bochers don’t go to mechinot unless they are going into the IDF. Nor does the IDF make a general practice of rejecting men who wish to serve. But if you find out the idf plans to reject him, do let us know. Given the wide media reporting around this story, the IDF has ample opportunity to do so now and clarify Its moral position on this matter. The fact that it hasn’t done so speaks volumes.
@Richard Silverstein: “Nor does the IDF make a general practice of rejecting men who wish to serve.” That is highly inaccurate as it pertains to those with criminal records. See, e.g., https://www.mako.co.il/pzm-soldiers/Article-00747b33d8f0241006.htm
It may well be that this guy fully expects to be drafted, and he may be going through pre-draft procedures, but there is zero chance that he will be drafted unless he is acquitted of the murders, which as I understand from your post he has not (yet?) been. (Even if he is acquitted, I still highly doubt that he would be drafted.)
@ Nisin: You forget that Odess has no criminal record. He’s not been convicted of any crime and may never be if the Israeli justice system has anything to say about it.
Was “your source” there when the crime was committed? You source cannot “confirm” what they did or didn’t do!
@ Joshua: Don’t be an idiot. My source knows precisely what happened. He knows who committed the crime. I’m not going to get into a pissing contest between you, who is an ignorant fool and my source who is deeply informed. And if you put “my source” in scare quotes again, as if doubting his existence, you will be moderated. Do not publish another comment in this particular thread.
@ Richard Silverstein: Here’s an update for you – https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5611781,00.html. Worth updating your post maybe? He’s gonna be in prison soon, and certainly not in the IDF. There was never a realistic prospect of that.
@Nisin: I posted this story to my social media accounts just after it was first published. As for suggestions on how to edit my blog and what to publish, please don’t offer them.
He’ll be in prison for less than 5 years for exterminating an enture Palestinian family. He should be put away for life. Not to mention that there were five conspirators with only two facing any punishment at all. The others walk away scot-free.
As for serving in the IDF, there are thousands of settler youth just like him already serving. The only difference is that they kill and oppress under color of uniform, while Odess does it as an admitted terrorist.
@Richard Silverstein: no more suggestions from me, you got it. As to your statement that “He’ll be in prison for less than 5 years for exterminating an entire Palestinian family,” that is incorrect. He will not be convicted of or sentenced for murder.
You say your source knows he’s the killer, and I believe you and your source, but that’s not how courts work. His confession was thrown out because it was obtained through torture — and I assume you agree with that ruling — so the court needs other evidence in order to convict him and punish him for murder. Apparently, such evidence is unavailable.
@ Nisin:
Please don’t ever “assume” what I believe. I will reject torture when it is not used by the Shabak against anyone, whether a Jewish terrorist or a non-Jewish suspect. Until then, don’t assume I favor coddling Jewish terrorists.
THe fact that only one suspect of the five murderers will actually be charged with murder is a schandeh. A black mark on Israeli “justice” (if you can call it that). It marks a filthy, corrupt system made by the Jewish majority for the Jewish majority. Not even the Jewish majority. It’s actually coddling the Judean terrorist who present themselves as Jews. Pure disgust.
Do not comment further in this thread.
I’m done with your blog, Richard (not a devastating loss for you, I’m sure). You do not even attempt or pretend to keep an open mind; you are nothing but a bully in the comments section; and you are never willing to admit a mistake, even when you’re proven wrong (e.g., you won’t update/correct a post that has proven to be completely false within a couple of weeks of its posting). That makes you an uninteresting read to me. The fact that you think a court should admit into evidence a Jewish terrorism suspect’s coerced confession also shows me you have zero authority to offer moral judgments. Enjoy your future pashkevils.
@Nisin: Don’t slam the door on the way out!