as if he wants to say the last sentence --jewish and mercifull .. but mercifull must be to all humans ... and jewish for good people of the jews ... here it is not mercifull nor jewish

I second the complaint about the rush to ignorantly single out Israel's actions here as uncommon or unprecedented in the international community. But there is indeed something uncommon about Israel, or at least there once was, and that is-- or was-- the value that we placed upon life, even the lives of drug dealers and worse. One person was executed in the entire history of the State-- one of the most depraved men in the history of mankind. Another undeniably depraved man was reprieved and released because it was not certain as to whether or not he ranked as high in depravity-- there was some doubt as to whether he was indeed one of the people deserving of a statue in the inner sanctum of the pantheon of human evil. And while I do not in the least condone the crimes that may (or may not) have been committed by the two men in question, I am surprised by those who find it to be anything but unequivocally consistent with the values upon which Israel was founded to defend the accused from a possible death sentence. The two men in custody were stupid, and, if the allegations are true, criminal. But I am quite happy with my values, thank you very much, and those which the Israeli government has committed itself to herein.

incredible.

Pollard is a whiney whingey old moaner who got caught. Tuff. Poor little Gilad was serving his country as all decent 18 year olds do. The first priority must be for all our missing soldiers. I must!

Maybe give them tanks tinstead of rifles his time? Why is Ynet giving this degenerate a platform?? He is only fit to clean the streets

Taking a shluff in your tank without putting up a guard is not only stupid, but was directly against the army guidelines. Shalitt didn't 'deserve' to be taken captive and his tank mates didn't deserve to die, but there are limits to looking the other way too. I don't see anything amiss in preventing these Israelis from getting sentenced to death. We helped Tanenbaum to a much greater degree for not much more in way of reason.

Drug dealers are the scum of the earth and they deserve what they get. The conditions in Thai jails are well known. They were fools to risk getting caught there. Why shouldn't they be executed? How many young people could have died from these drugs. Maybe it will send a message to others not to smuggle drugs in Thailand.

Actually, MDMA is being investigated as a potential antidepressant for those who don't do well on traditional antidepressants (TCAs, SSRIs) and are suffering severely from it. The problem is that people who don't suffer from clinical depression are the least who need MDMA. It massively alters serotonergic and dopaminergic transmission in the brain, resulting in highs resembling mania and psychosis if too high a dose is taken. Since the major target group of MDMA customers are young people, it is a dealer's favorite drug to sell. It is not marijuana in that it instead induces massive highs rather than the more benign cannabis plant. Only through medical professionals should the use of MDMA be monitored if hopefully it is modified to treat severe, refractory depression.

Australian drug-dealers were also caught in South-East Asia. One of them was executed in Singapore, another, the famously beautiful Chapelle Corby is languishing in an indonesian jail. Currently, the "Bali-9" is being tried in Indonesia, after the nine australian males were caught with large amounts of drugs. Apart from similar attempts of trying to involve the government, there is also an islamic dimension, at it befits the brave new world. After all, Bali was also the scene of terrorist attacks earlier in the decade. By now, the legal process was exhausted, and the moslem bombers were executed just last month. This, in the largest islamic country on earth. Most australians did not object to the application of the death penalty for terrorists. This left the government with less space to maneuvre in the case of drug dealers.

there are certain principles at stake here, other than the superficial: "they are drug dealers, so let them hang!" first, the penalties under israeli law are often different than in other countries. for example, israelis should not be hanged for spitting on a picture of muamar ghadafi (or ehud olmert, either). there is no death penalty in israel for drug dealers, and until that changes, israel should try to save its citizens from unreasonable punishments. and there is also the question of sovereignty: regardless of the details of this one case, it would be preferable to NOT give up the right to try and punish israeli citizens. this is a matter of national interest, and israel should try to have them repatriated to face charges in israel, not so much for their sakes, as for the sake of others who might be charged in countries where the legal process itself is questionable, and there are plenty of such places. lastly, it's always best to deal with your own problems, and not export them to other countries. israel's reputation is not enhanced by high-profile cases and public executions of israeli drug dealers. this is bad for foreign relations, and impacts israel's status internationally, in ways that a lengthy, and quiet, jail term in israel wouldn't do. and thailand isn't israel.

Leftist? My values are clearly largely libertarian and we are as far right as you can be on the poltical spectrum. We believe that keeping drugs illegal and letting the mafia and career criminals take over the sales make our streets more unsafe than when drugs are legal.

You think alcohol-related crimes are worse now than when alcohol was illegal and sales were rendered by the mafia?