By Rabbi Yair Hoffman

I was once travelling in a car with a person who expressed disdain for those mean police officers who give speeding tickets.  I asked that person whether they had any relatives who speed dangerously.  “Yes,” came the reply.  “Don’t you realize that the fear of those mean police officers is what is keeping those relatives from a tragic car crash?  Those mean police officers are what is keeping your relatives alive. We should rather have hakaras hatov to them,” was my response.  That response changed that person’s perspective. 

The Chazon Ish once remarked that he could never run a loan Gemach because he would have too much rachmanus and that would eventually lead to the Gemach to become defunct.  He explained that in Torah communities a Gemach is absolutely necessary in order for members of the community to function – to make a chasunah, or any simcha for that matter.  If the one who runs the Gemach doesn’t run it with an iron hand, without showing rachmanus – that Gemach will eventually run out of money. 

There are many people who are horrified at the actions. perspectives and statements of minister Itamar Ben Gvir. Often, they personify the opposite of the ideals of Mussar and mentschlechkeit that we hold dear.

Since taking office in late 2022, Itamar Ben Gvir has implemented an overhaul of conditions for Palestinian security prisoners. He ended fresh pita baking in prisons, dramatically reduced shower times, canceled access to canteens, removed electronic devices from cells, ended daily outdoor time, switched to a minimal food menu, stopped financial deposits, suspended family visits and Red Cross access, and sharply curtailed access to lawyers. After October 7, 2023, he even secured Knesset approval for a “prison emergency” allowing detainees to be housed on mattresses instead of beds, and he ordered the reopening of the underground Raqefet prison beneath the Nitzan complex in Ramle — a facility closed in 1985 as inhumane — which grew from a capacity of 15 to holding approximately 100 inmates in windowless, underground cells. He banned the early administrative release of security prisoners serving sentences of up to three years.  He even publicly confirmed that all reports of harsh conditions were accurate, stating that worsening those conditions was one of his highest goals!

Ben Gvir’s steps are genuinely harsh. And concern for prisoners’ basic dignity is a legitimate Torah value.

But the fact is that no matter, how repulsive people find his actions and statements – he is saving lives.  Innocent lives.  That mean police officer is a deterrent to family members who speed excessively, that mean Gemach guy is ensuring that Gemachs remain for the community, and Ben Gvir’s actions are minimizing would-be terrorists. Pikuach Nefesh, however, does trump these concerns.

Just as the Chazon Ish recognized that rachmanus in the wrong place destroys the institution meant to help people, misplaced rachmanus toward those who have committed or would commit acts of terror endangers the very lives we’re trying to protect.  The Chazon Ish also explained that he himself –  would not be able to do an effective job in that position.

There will be some that argue that it actually increases terrorism, but anyone with a shred of honesty  will realize the sheer self-deception of this.  Shin Bet Director David Zini recently stated that the policy of worsening conditions at security prisons does have a deterring effect. Last week, it was reported that people in Shin Bet remarked, “We checked with sources, and you don’t understand: they are afraid to go to Ben-Gvir’s prisons, they don’t carry out attacks because Ben-Gvir’s jails are hell for them.”

It does make sense.

 There will be others who will say that there is always a third way where both of these extremes can be balanced – a firm but compassionate approach.  This is, of course, the ideal, but by and large, this is not very attainable when faced with extreme conditions.  And what has been going on until now, well, how has that been working out, exactly?

 This is not to say that we should be hiring  minister Ben Gvir to deliver Mussar Shmuessim about sensitivity in the great Yeshivos of Slabodka, Mir, and BMG.  But we should have a sense of appreciation for what he is doing and look at it no differently than what the Chazon Ish said about those that run our free loan Gemachs.

There is also a drashos HaRan (#4?) that says that the Tuvei HaIr in a community must have among its ranks a cheap miser and a spendthrift, in order to ensure that the community be run effectively.  The Ran clearly indicates that a governing body composed entirely of compassionate individuals will inevitably fail in its duty to protect, just as one composed entirely of harsh individuals will fail in its duty to nurture. Sometimes the greatest chesed is done by those whom the world mistakes for being cruel.

The author can be reached at [email protected]