Retired Supreme Court Presidents Aharon Barak and Dorit Beinish met today at the Families' Forum headquarters with representatives of the families of the abducted and missing individuals.
Retired Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, a survivor of the Kovno ghetto, said to the families of the abducted and missing: "When you tell the stories I live them with you, I went through it."
Retired Supreme Court Presidents Aharon Barak and Dorit Beinish met today at the headquarters of the kidnapped and missing persons with the representatives of the families. The meeting was also attended by: the former deputy to the former attorney general Raz Nazri (who coordinates the legal side at the headquarters of the abductees) and Dina Zilber, the retired judge Sabina Rotloy and Uri Slonim is responsible for the axis of negotiations at the headquarters of the abductees and the missing.
The meeting was held following a letter sent on behalf of 183 retired judges to the president of the International Organization of Judges, Judge Doro Sessa, and the president of the European Organization of Judges, Judge Mikel Solberg. A letter whose main message is - "The kidnapped and captives are victims of 'enforced disappearance' and they must be released immediately."
The retired judges wrote in their letter that the actions carried out by Hamas violate international humanitarian laws, as well as international laws dealing with human rights, since these are crimes against humanity and war crimes. The judges who signed the letter come from all jurisdictions, including former presidents of the Supreme Court (Aharon Barak , Dorit Beinish), judges from the Arab sector, religious judges and secular judges (Selim Jobran, George Kara, Ila Forcacia, Manny Mazuz, Elyakim Rubinstein, Yosef Rivlin, Michael Ben-Yair), presidents of district courts and judges of district courts (Sabina Rotloy, Belha Gilor, Michal Rubinstein), the presidents of the Labor Court (Nili Arad) and many others from all districts and all religions.
About the meeting: After hearing the stories of the members of the families, retired Supreme Court President Aharon Barak thanked them for the meeting and moved the participants when he told how the events brought him back to his childhood in the Kovno ghetto and the day when the children were collected from the ghetto. Barak also said that on the day of the disaster he was in telephone contact throughout the day with a friend in Nahal Oz who survived. He said that he wrote a personal letter to the president of the Red Cross in which he asked that they use the maximum authority of the organization. "I am ready to help you with anything you want," he wrote in the letter. He said, "I will do everything I can to assist in the return of the abductees. If you ask me to go to Gaza, I will."
Retired court president Dorit Beinish - told the families that since that terrible Sabbath she has been racking her brain over what to do beyond the letter that was sent. "In front of force, you have to speak with force. There is a necessity to increase the pressure both from the Israeli government and foreign governments. It is very urgent, and we cannot wait, leaving babies, women, elderly, and young people there."
The former judges heard a request from one of the fathers to emphasize the demand to the Red Cross. He stated, "At this time, we need to think outside the box. It is unthinkable that an organization like this says it's merely technical." Judge Sabina Rotloy, a specialist in children's rights and welfare, spoke about her kidnapped friend, Vivian Silver, and how she signed a letter going out today to the UN Secretary-General on behalf of experts in children's rights from both Israel and around the world.
Advocate Raz Nazri, former Deputy Legal Advisor to the Government and currently providing legal assistance to the families on behalf of the Families' Forum, commended the judges for their involvement. The letter was initially signed by 152 retired judges, and after it was sent, 31 additional judges joined the initiative.
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