Menachem Finkelstein () was Israel's
Military Advocate General
The Military Advocate General (MAG Corps') (, ''HaPraklitut HaTzva'it'') is responsible for implementing the rule of law within the Israel Defense Forces. The unit's objectives include integrating the rule of law amongst IDF commanders and soldie ...
from 2000 to 2004, during the height of the
Second Intifada
The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its Israeli-occupied territories, occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and October 2000 prot ...
.
Finkelstein was born in 1951 and received an
Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...
upbringing. He passed the Israeli bar exam in 1976. He served in the Judge Advocate General's office in the
IDF from 1973 to 2004, becoming a
Major-General. He presided over the judgment that
targeted killing
Targeted killing is a form of assassination carried out by governments Extrajudicial killing, outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield.
Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention wit ...
s were a legal part of the
war on terror. In 2004
Hamas
The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
's
Sheikh Yassin was killed under the policy. In July 2003 Finkelstein decided not to open a criminal investigation into the death of
International Solidarity Movement activist
Rachel Corrie
Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American nonviolence activist and diarist. She was a member of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and was active throughout the Israeli-occupied terr ...
, but he did open an investigation into the death of
Tom Hurndall
Thomas Hurndall (27 November 1981 – 13 January 2004) was a British photography student, a volunteer for the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and an activist against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. On 11 April ...
in October 2003. In 2004 he testified before the
Knesset
The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel.
The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...
's Law and Constitution committee and noted that "In all the fatality cases we have investigated, there has never been a single incident of deliberate shooting
f civilians by the IDF" He retired from the army in 2004 and became a district judge.
Works
English :
His book : Conversion : halakhah and practice / Menachem Finkelstein
ranslated from the Hebrew by Edward LevinRamat-Gan : Bar-Ilan University Press 2006.
This book was praised by Aaron Kirschenbaum and by
Daniel Sperber
Daniel Sperber (Hebrew: דניאל שפרבר; born 4 November 1940) is a British-born Israeli academic and Orthodox Jewish rabbi. He is a professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and an expert in classical philology, history of Je ...
"Legal Perspectives un the Fight Against Terror – The Israeli Experience" 1 IDF Rev. 341 (2003)
"The Dilemma of The Military Judge Advocate – General", DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES and their ARMED FORCES, ed. Stuart A. Cohen, pp.175-183(2000)
"The Israeli Military Legal System - overview of the current situation and a glimpse into the future", 52 Air Force Law Review. pp.137-167 (2002) (With Yifat Tomer)
"War and Morality: Image and Reality", 30 JUSTICE (Winter 2002), pp.11-15."Conversion in the Age of Immigration", 19 JUSTICE (Winter 1998), pp.47-49.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finkelstein, Menahem
1951 births
Living people