Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday rejected appeals by the Israel Medical Association and a few NGOs against an amendment to the Prisons Act that permits forcing medical treatment on hunger striking prisoners.
Elyakim Rubinstein, the Vice President of the Supreme Court, said he was persuaded that there are possible situations in which saving lives requires having the amendment on the books, although he noted that he is not happy with it and suggested there may be other ways, within the exiting laws, to remedy such situations.
Israel Radio reported that one of the items in the contested legislation requires the judge on hand to consider how the death of a hunger striking prisoner might affect state security. The justices ruled that the court must give a preference to medical, rather than security considerations.