Israel Wants the Right to Torture on a Need-to-Know Basis

Torture may no longer be de rigueur for terror suspects in Israeli hands, but it’ll remain the last resort. Prime Minister Ehud Barak indicated Wednesday that he’ll support legislation to soften a landmark Supreme Court decision outlawing torture by Israel’s security services. Barak doesn’t want the security forces’ hands tied when bombs are ticking — although the Supreme Court indicated it might accept a "ticking bomb" argument in specific cases, such exceptions would be made only after the perpetrators had been brought to trial. "This is an extremely emotional issue for Israel," says TIME Jerusalem bureau chief Lisa Beyer. "On the one hand, many feel the country has reached a point where it can address such issues and become a proper democracy; others believe that the rights of future terror victims are more important than those of suspected terrorists."

Even if it’s softened, the Supreme Court ruling should make life easier for Palestinian detainees in Israeli hands. "Interrogators in the past had routinely used torture," says Beyer. "Now that they may be put on trial, they’re more likely to first consider the context and the consequences." But even though the perpetrators of last weekend’s failed car bombings turned out to be Israeli Arabs, the main terrorist threat comes from Hamas supporters inside the Palestinian territories. Good thing for Israel, then, that there are fewer restraints on the Palestinian security police.