By Scotty Reid, 8/15/2012, news, politics, opinion

In a statement released yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed a man known to have committed war crimes to head Israel’s homeland security.

Netanyahu’s government issued the following quote from a speech he gave.

“I decided to appoint MK Avi Dichter to serve as the Minister for Home Front Defense. He previously served as Minister of Internal Security; he was also the head of the Shin Bet. I remember him from 40 years ago when we served together in the IDF Special Forces. He has many virtues and he is now charged with a very important mission: to continue doing what he has been doing his whole life – contributing to the security of the country,
Because I attribute great importance to home front defense, my government has invested a great deal in it, as no other government before ours has. We have done a great deal already, but there is a great deal more to do and Avi Dichter, as Minister of Home Front Defense, will do so in his new position."

What the Prime Minister should be saying to the Israeli people is that the U.S. Taxpayer's at the expense of social programs and education have heavily invested in Israel's defenses.

The Obama Administration in this fiscal year just gave Israel $3 billion U.S. dollars for military financing and then as a bonus just ahead of the elections, gave them an additional $205 million to start a homeland security defense shield called the "Iron Dome" reminiscent of Reagan's "Star Wars" missile defense shield.

Appointing Avi Dichter to head up Israel's homeland security would be the political equivalent of Mitt Romney picking to John Yoo to be his Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. John Yoo worked in the Bush Administration and is widely known as "the author of the Torture Memos on the use of what the CIA called enhanced interrogation techniques" in case you all forgot.

Dichter was also the subject of lawsuit filed in the U.S. for war crimes.

"In Matar v. Dichter, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a federal class action lawsuit against Dichter on behalf of the Palestinians killed or injured in a 2002 "targeted killing" air strike in Gaza. It charged him with extrajudicial killing, war crimes and other gross human rights violations."

The lawsuit dismissal was affirmed in a 2009 ruling from the The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit declaring that Dichter had diplomatic immunity for his war crimes.

So far there has been no reaction or statements from the Human Rights community.

Since Dichter is being appointed to a position that is being funded by U.S. taxpayers should have a say in revisiting that $3 billion dollar gift Israel was just handed.

Scotty Reid is the founder of the non-profit new media organization Black Talk Media Project and the associated Black Talk Radio Network. He has personally produced over 1,000 online episodes of Internet radio and has talk to many professionals and ordinary citizen about issues impacting the Black/African global community.