A primary task of government is to enforce the law and to protect the life, property and rights of all the people for whose security it is responsible. This principle is recognized throughout international law, as well as in domestic legislation in most democracies in the world. Israel’s duty extends not just to Israeli citizens but also – and equally – to Palestinians in the Occupied Territories under its control. This article will attempt to evaluate Israeli compliance with international law by examining how the criminal justice system treats civilians - Israeli and Palestinian - who reside in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and Gaza and who kill members of the other group.

The unfortunate conclusion is that Israel fails to adequately protect the lives and rights of Palestinians. Two separate and unequal legal systems operate side-by-side, one for Israelis and one for Palestinians. As will be shown, while Palestinians who kill Israelis are prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent permitted by law, Israelis who kill Palestinians are seldom prosecuted and when they are, they receive grossly inadequate sentences. One example among many others discussed in this article is that of Rabbi Moshe Levinger, who pleaded guilty in 1990 to negligent homicide and causing serious bodily injury in aggravated circumstances. After first telling the press that he “did not have the privilege of killing that Arab,” Levinger later admitted that, in response to stone throwing youth, he fired a pistol on a crowded street, killing a Palestinian merchant standing outside his store.1 Despite his extensive prior criminal record, Levinger was sentenced to only 12 months in prison, of which seven were suspended. He was paroled after serving only three months, able to gloat that he had been “convicted… for a minor charge.”2   Such a sentence is clearly not intended to deter either the perpetrator from repeating his crime or other Israelis who might have similar disregard for the value of Palestinian life. This failure to adequately punish Israelis who commit the ultimate crime against Palestinians violates both international human rights law and the Israeli Basic Law.

A.  International Law

The right to life is one of the most basic principles of international human rights law.   It is affirmed by Article 3 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNUDHR): “ Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”  While the Declaration is not legally binding, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by Israel in 1991, includes a similar provisions in Article 6 (1): “Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law.”

Another fundamental human right recognized in international law relevant to this article is the right to effective redress against crime. This right is affirmed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 8: “Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.”

By ratifying the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, Israel undertook  “to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” 3    Like every other State Party to the ICCPR, Israel has undertaken to ensure that any person whose rights as recognized in the Convention are violated “shall have an effective remedy”… and to ensure that the competent authorities shall enforce such remedies when granted.” 4

In addition to international human rights law, international humanitarian law must be considered, since Israel qualifies its present confrontation with Palestinians as “armed conflict.” 5   The very first act prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilians in Times of War “at any time and in any place whatsoever” with respect to persons taking no active part in the hostilities is  “[v]iolence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds….”6   Moreover, in Article 27, the Geneva Convention mandates that protected persons be entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons and that at all times, they be “humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against all acts of violence…”

 Thus, the Geneva Conventions, which envisage that the Power that is in control of a territory will be responsible for maintaining law and order there, impose upon Israel the duty to protect the life of all civilians under its authority. 7