High Court rejects Goldin family's peitition
Family of Lt. Hadar Goldin asks court to order government to implement Security Cabinet decisions meant to put pressure on Hamas; court determines developments since petition was submitted show decisions are being implemented, making the petition redundant.
Accepting the state’s position that the decisions are already being implemented, the High Court noted that “due to the limited scope of interference in the respondents’ considerations on sensitive and complex issues—which entail diplomatic, security, humanitarian and moral considerations—the petition is rejected.”
The Goldin family asked the court to order the state to implement a decision to reach an arrangement with the Gaza terror group that would lead to the return of two Israeli citizens also held by Hamas—Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed—and the return of the bodies of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul—two soldiers who were killed during the 2014 Operation Protective Edge in Gaza and whose bodies was captured by Hamas.
The High Court noted that developments that have taken place since the petition was submitted have made it redundant.
“As the respondents have taken the necessary measures to ensure the implementation of the Cabinet decision, there are no grounds for interfering with the considerations of the military commander with regards to the timing of returning the bodies of terrorists who do not meet the criteria set in the decision. Furthermore, the military commander must not be subjected to the ‘inspection’ of the petitioners,” Justice Neal Hendel wrote in the ruling.
The Goldin family petitioned the High Court two other times in the past. Among other things, the family asked not to allow Hamas prisoners to watch the World Cup and to prevent terrorists’ funerals from becoming a spectacle.
In response to the court’s decision, the Goldin family welcomed the fact that “following our petition, the government has started implementing the Cabinet’s decisions, making the petition redundant. At the same time, we will continue to stand guard—the government and its leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, have the responsibility to use all measures at its disposal to put pressure on Hamas and return the sons home, as the prime minister has also committed to doing at the UN. We hope we won’t have to use judicial tools again for the government to implement its decisions. We need to focus on fighting the enemy in Gaza that took Hadar from us.”
