During a virtual Zoom with Rabbi YY Jacobson, Mr. Eli Beer, the founder of United Hatzolah, shared an intriguing discussion he had with Hagaon Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l concerning his moral duty when it comes to administering medical care to a terrorist.
Beer made it clear that amid the ongoing conflicts, his organization has neither offered medical assistance to any terrorists nor transported them to hospitals.
He then recounted a query he presented to Rav Chaim. In a situation where a terrorist had stabbed a Jew and subsequently got shot, and the terrorist’s injuries were more severe than the Jewish victim’s, who should be treated first? Conventional emergency response principles dictate prioritizing the more severely injured person over the less injured one, but what should be done when one of the casualties is a terrorist?
“You have an obligation to approach the terrorist first, shoot him, and then attend to the Jewish victim,” said Rav Chaim. Beer quoted Rav Chaim as stating, “The terrorist is considered a rodef” [even if the terrorist is no longer capable of causing harm to anyone].
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