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del.icio.us Digg It!  new The nanny state By Haaretz Editorial Tags: enemy states, travel, Israel Journalists Tsur Shezaf, Ron Ben-Yishai and Lisa Goldman each went to either Lebanon or Syria to report for the Israeli media. For this routine action, each recently was questioned by the International Crimes Investigations Unit of the Israel Police. "We don't make distinctions among citizens," the police stated, citing the 1954 Prevention of Infiltration Law. If the state did not distinguish among its citizens, then it would have to monitor hundreds of thousands of Israelis with dual citizenship who travel abroad, including to countries with which Israel has no diplomatic relations. The new and open world, with its freedom of movement - actual as well as virtual - is a fact we must learn to live with. Democratic states guard against illegal immigration, and only dictatorships fight to keep their citizens inside. In order to question an Israeli who has been to an enemy state, there must be a suspicion that a crime was committed there, such as espionage, drug trafficking or any other serious offense. This is the case for all citizens, not to mention journalists and Knesset members. It is safe to assume that neither the Arab MKs who have been questioned, nor the reporters, are suspected of any crimes, and that their questioning was meant only to deter them from making similar trips in the future. Advertisement The security reason given for preventing Israelis from traveling to enemy states is that they could be kidnapped, which would force the state to negotiate for their release. That is a serious argument indeed, but it is irrelevant to post-travel questioning. The fear that Israelis will be abducted for use as bargaining chips to free prisoners always has existed, and it is as true with regard to Ben-Yishai in Syria as for any Israeli family touring India, or any businessman in Tehran. When it comes to the hundreds of thousands of Israelis with dual citizenship who travel around the world, the only thing the state can do is issue warnings and point out the dangers inherent in traveling to a particular place. It can declare in advance that it has no responsibility to secure the release of anyone who accepts the danger. The investigation of MKs, Arab or not, is even more disturbing because it violates the substantive immunity they receive by law to carry out their duties as they see fit. Some of the Arab MKs view their travel to Arab countries as a mission that can bring people and positions together, or at least as representing their constituents who travel to these states for family visits. Anyone interested in selling state secrets can do so from any other country, and anyone who is guarding important secrets signs documents that restrict his or her movement. Israelis must enjoy the freedom to endanger themselves, at their own risk. The state, for its part, must take into account relevant factors whenever it is called upon to aid a citizen who has run into trouble abroad. The fate of a journalist is not the same as that of Gilad Shalit, who was abducted as a soldier serving the country. The state is not the nanny of its citizens, and interrogations for the purpose of deterrence are harmful. One might expect the attorney general to nip this behavior in the bud. Bookmark to del.icio.us Bigotry prevails Haaretz.com TV: A new study shows a rise in racism against Israel's Arabs. High and dry Hamas seizes hundreds of pounds of marijuana in Gaza - and burns it in public.   1.   Have you forgotten? 13:39  |  Avi 09/12/07   2.   Thus allow travel to all of Judea, Samaria and Azza 15:17  |  Binyamin Dissen 09/12/07   3.   tracel questions 17:31  |  elliot 09/12/07   4.   Israelis travelling to Enemy countries 23:41  |  David 09/12/07

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