Of course, if it were an Applied Ethics course, Klapper would get an F for failing to consider the context in which the consideration had been raised. That context is innocent Israelis being hacked, slashed, stabbed, shot and rammed by people primarily coming from specific neighborhoods, and with no cooperation from the leadership from which they come.
But the tone was set, and rather than sticking to the same anodyne talking points, Kirby responded with, “If it was true, it would certainly be of concern to us.”
Kirby was backed into a corner, asked whether he – or, since Kirby is speaking for the U.S. State Dept., whether the government – could be so unkind that it wouldn’t oppose a measure just because it is so self-evidently wrong, and because “you think it’s wrong.” No context, no matter. Most people can’t help but respond to a prompt like that just the way Kirby did. But his job is precisely not to be goaded into such responses.
And Klapper? Exactly what was he seeking to achieve?
So far the Israeli government has not officially announced whether it intends to take any measures regarding the identity cards of anyone other than those guilty of terrorism. There currently are more than a dozen suspected terrorists for whom this measure is being considered if they are proven guilty.
