Mental illness is not a crime; neither is it a license to commit a crime…
Unfortunately, there are more and more cases in Israel of insane people committing serious crimes, especially murder, and it doesn’t look like the situation is going to improve any time soon.
We all know that the insanity defense is used by many a lawyer trying to save his client’s skin.
The definition of an insanity defense is: “A defense in which a person can be found not guilty, or not responsible, for a crime because, at the time of the crime, the accused was unable to differentiate between right and wrong, based on the fact that the accused suffers from mental illness or a mental defect.”
“Insanity” is a legal – not a psychological – term, and experts disagree as to whether it has a valid psychological meaning. (In general, experts disagree on many issues!)
The defense
A person accused of a crime (by the state) may plead that he was (at that moment) or is now insane and did not understand what he was doing; that he was not in control of his body or that he was intoxicated (for which there are detailed rules of evidence and procedure to be followed), but this defense is rejected by most judges.
The state vs. those who are really mentally ill
I would state cautiously, but firmly, that the State of Israel has very little sympathy – and even less respect – for people suffering from mental disease, people who are mentally ill and those considered mentally retarded. It has zero respect and consideration for those who are “suspected” of being insane.
The law allows a district psychiatrist to force hospitalization upon a mentally ill patient (not a criminal, but a mentally ill person), contrary to his (and his family’s) wishes. However, the law limits this to those times that the person himself, or others, are in imminent danger.
In a mental institution, the patient is forced into “interrogations” by the doctors, has no privacy, almost no rights and is treated as “crazy” until he can prove otherwise. And it’s not an easy task.
The Knesset passed a law in 1991 in an attempt to create balance between the rights of society and the rights of persons hospitalized against their will. However, the power given to a district psychiatrist is enormous and makes a mockery of the law.
Danger! Watch out!
According to the official data of the Ministry of Health, every two days, a patient dies in one of the psychiatric hospitals in this country (50% of them aged between 18 and 65). The Health Ministry has refused to list the reasons for the deaths!
These are the facts. I leave you to draw your own conclusions.
Israeli society
Are we a normal society? It depends on who you ask.
I have clients in many countries, with different backgrounds, different religions and different political views. And all of them have a hard time understanding what is happening in Israel. They ask why I choose to stay, in spite of what they call the imminent danger of terrorism and war.
Zionism and my personal religious view are not the answer, but I use these situations as opportunities to explain why we Israelis are considered “chutzpadik” – lacking patience, often nervous, etc. In fact, as a good psychiatrist (and client) used to say: “We, the Israelis, should each be getting a daily dose of Prozac in order to create a more normal society.”
A word of hope
I hope, as many of us do, for a peaceful future with our neighbors. But, as a hyper-realist, I know we are very far from this goal. In fact, I am not worried about a peaceful future in the Middle East! I am more worried about the animosity between Jews in general and, more specifically, amongst our own people in Israel.
Only when we find a way to live together in peace and mutual respect we will have a chance to make peace with other nations.
