Friday, July 3, 2009

When May a Judge Take Away a Citizen's Passport?

An interesting court decision was handed down by an Israeli judge in February 2009:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097217.html

Sometimes, I think about whether America should have mandatory military service. Perhaps if more Americans served in the military and were at risk for deployment, our government would use the military option less. At the same time, the development of unmanned "killer" drones seems to be making war less risky, less human, and more one-sided.

As for Yaniv David Harel's case, I don't know how I would have ruled. The judge may not have adequately considered that fact that Mr. Harel wasn't goofing off when he requested the second extension:

He [Mr. Harel] offered to volunteer as a doctor in the medical corps and serve in the standing army, the same way some conscripts are sent to university by the army and then serve a longer time than regular inductees...[After the Israeli military refused,] Harel decided to finish medical school at Columbia University in New York.

I hope everything works out for Mr. Harel.

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