Time to pay for mistakes

The decision that came in response to a petition filed by human rights organizations, according to which West Bank and Gaza Strip residents are entitled to sue for compensation in the wake of Israeli actions, is revolutionary, and to some extent constitutes a fix for the security-minded approach adopted by the High Court in recent years.

In a rare decision, Supreme Court justices told the State of Israel that it cannot do whatever it wishes without paying. Even if we're talking about another people, the kind been ruled over for 40 years.

And please note the ironic timing: A day after the Olmert government gave the United Nations the finger and refused to accept a UN commission of inquiry into the Beit Hanoun affair, the High Court ruled that we are responsible in fact.

That is, the government claims that no one should scrutinize us or tell us what to do. The court says: We're the first ones that should be examining ourselves - and offer compensation if needed. In fact, High Court judges forcefully made us part of the international community, the one that believes that there are such things as morality, human rights, and all the other leftist clichés.

Innocent civilians

What did the State argue? The State Attorney's Office said: We're facing a war situation with the Palestinians, and an absurd situation can emerge where we must compensate our enemy during wartime. An interesting argument. None of us is happy to compensate families of suicide bombers killed on the altar of the war against Israelis.

Yet this argument is hypocritical to a large extent as it ignores the simple fact that we're only talking about - and everyone knows this - the compensation offered to innocent civilians where we are directly at fault for their deaths or injuries.

Not so sure they're innocent? No worries, the State will put any Palestinian who seeks compensation through hell until he or his family get what they deserve. They will regret the moment they even thought about demanding compensation after a tank misfires a shell, or an artillery computer screws up, or a gunship fails to identify children among the gunmen – and all the other slogans we're use to by now.

Mistakes come with a price, ladies and gentlemen. At times it even costs money. For too long we got used to the Territories being our training ground, with their residents used for target practice by our soldiers.

Yes, it's infuriating that the Palestinians don't give a damn about international conventions and repeatedly fire out of civilian areas. Yes, it's frustrating that they have no problem firing on Sderot and the Negev. And yes, every time I see the wet kisses shared by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Iranian President Ahmadinejad, I feel like sticking a syringe in their ears, on behalf of the Mossad.

Yet this doesn't change a thing: A modern western country should adhere to certain rules of conduct. You kill innocent civilians? Please pay up. Yes, even if they're not our citizens.

On November 8, only a month ago, the Israel Defense Forces killed 20 Palestinian civilians in the town of Beit Hanoun with a misfired shell. Seven of those killed were children, while four others were women. The prime minister expressed his regret, as did the defense minister. The inquiry discovered that the source of the misfire was a defective electronic component in the system. A card. The time has come for the State of Israel to pull out its credit card - and pay.

Guy Benyovits is the head of Ynet's news desk