The city opens before him.
With your back to the sea, with your head there
You didn't fight to stop.
She doesn't care about finishing anymore.
With your back to the sea, with your head there
[Meir Ariel].
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No one, as far as I know, has been able to completely decipher what the late Meir Ariel meant in his "Shelel Sharav." However, the perception is accepted that at least in the attached text, the murder of the girl Nava Elimelech and, in general, incidents of violence, murder, and serious acts - against women - resonate.
The events of recent months, which culminated in the horrific attempted murder of Shira Isakov by her husband, and in the murder committed against Diana Raz by her husband - flooded my mind again and again, and simultaneously also the question of what the place of the victim is - if he remains alive like Isakov - in the trial of the perpetrator? Does he have any place at all, a say, a right to express himself?
Since I had written a paper on this in the past, I knew that just such a law was enacted in 2001 under the title 'Crime Victims' Rights Law'. The law includes various components that I do not wish to detail, but the most important section, in my opinion at least, is this:
''Having a voice': At various decision points during the handling of the case, the victim may request that his opinion be heard and taken into account, such as regarding the stay of proceedings, plea bargains, a request for early release, and a request for clemency.
The other sections, in my opinion at least, are less important, and the jurists among us will correct me if I'm wrong.
This section has been met with fierce criticism for the simple reason: despite the right to voice one's opinion, the judicial system is not obligated to take it into account in the system of considerations. A prime example of this is the Shira Isakov incident - in her appearance before the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women, the woman who became a symbol of violence against women called for a change in the way plea bargain negotiations for violent men are conducted.
According to her, as reported on News 13, "The victim has no ability to express an opinion on the matter. If the prosecution and the defense agree on the sentence, that's enough and the deal is signed. This is unacceptable.".
A criticism that may be unfamiliar but no less distressing to me is the question of the place of the law in the Jewish codex. Does Judaism have a say in this highly charged subject? I am no great arbiter, but as far as is known, there is no reference to the subject.
Why? I asked myself, does Judaism not recognize this need? Does it not 'care' about the voice of the victim? Does it not have the right, as a figure bearing the scars of the man now standing before the judgment seat - to intervene in the judicial process?
In a conversation with my close friend, the talented dayan Rabbi Eyal Giat, he raised an opposite question that I had not thought about: Couldn't the voice of the victim be heard in an improper way and influence the judges' system of considerations? Are we able to respond, even at a subconscious level, to the victim's distress, objectively and impose on the accused the punishment he deserves?
And another question: Are we not creating a built-in differentiation between more theatrical women with a loud and penetrating voice, and women with lower and less accessible 'cultural capital'? How can we ensure complete noise cancellation in the face of a 'clean' decision by the judge?
Rabbi Giat believes, therefore, that the Torah gives the victim everything he deserves, naturally taking into account the danger of releasing the criminal from prison, but is careful not to allow voices that are not part of the judicial system to penetrate and influence it.
I am aware that Kant, with his rational theory of morality, is also relevant here, and despite everything, in front of the pictures of Shira Isakov and Diana Raz, my heart is still not at peace.
