I AM NOT A DIPLOMAT nor do I play one on tv.
I am neither diplomatic nor politically correct. Worse, I don’t care.
But I think Israel did a diplomatically stupid thing by refusing to allow Jordanian police to question an Israeli embassy security guard/soldier who killed two Jordanians.
I don’t understand why the soldier/security guard could not have been questioned inside the Israeli embassy with Israeli diplomats and lawyers present to protect his rights.
The killings — at least one justified when the soldier was attacked by a screwdriver wielding 19-year-old Muslim — are aggravating an already tense situation between Jordan and Israel. This on top of the Temple Mount flap orchestrated by PA dictator Abu Mazen.
According to Arutz 7/Israel National News (a non-government source), On Sunday, the Israeli embassy in Amman’s deputy security officer was stabbed at his residence in the embassy compound by a Jordanian man who had been brought to move furniture.
After he was stabbed, the security officer opened fire, killing the terrorist.
A second Jordanian citizen, who was described in various media reports as being either a doctor employed at the embassy or the owner of the residence, was also killed during the attack.
Following the attack, Jordanian officials have demanded Israel turnover the security officer for interrogation – despite his diplomatic immunity.
In a separate article, Arutz 7 speculated that the second Jordanian citizen killed in the incident was the result of stray fire.
This is the nightmare of everyone who owns a weapon for self defense; killing an innocent bystander.
Embassies are extra-territorial and those within an embassy’s wall are exempt from local laws; e.g., a person could have liquor in the embassy in Saudi Aabia, but if the person takes the liquor outside of the embassy, the person may be arrested and punished.
It seems to me that Israel was pushing the issue of extra-territoriality when a compromise would have been a better option.
If Israel manages to bring the wounded security guard back to Israel, the reasonable thing to do would be for the Israelis to interrogate the soldier in the presence of Jordanian diplomatic personnel.
The Jordanians are properly concerned, and deserve, to get the whole story. The Israeli ambassador, Einat Schlein, may have been acting on instructions from Israel’s Foreign Office (equates to the U.S. State Department), but if so, the instructions were inappropriate for neighbors, both of whom are sensitive to slights, real or imagined. A compromise could easily have been arranged to satisfy both Israel and Jordan; instead diplomatic relations between the two countries are in jeopardy.
Although I am not a lawyer (nor do I play one on tv) it is my understanding that in U.S. law, the Muslim who attacked the Israeli would be charged with the murder of the innocent civilian since the Muslim caused the confrontation.
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