Behind a Roadside Hit in Malaysia, Israeli-Palestinian Intrigue

Russia attempts to kill a Russian spy in the UK and is subjected to harsh Western sanctions. Israel is a rogue state which illegally perpetrates thousands of targeted assassinations against Palestinians, Lebanese and other Arabs with total impunity under the pretext that it has the right to keep its people safe, while exercising apartheid policies against Palestinians, and killing peaceful unarmed Palestinians protesters. This is an unacceptable double standard. Until Israël faces international sanctions, it will continue bullying and killing anybody who attempts to fight its illegal occupation of Arab lands. It’s time to call Israël out and hold it accountable until it’s willing to negotiate with the Palestinians for a peaceful and fair resolution of their bilateral conflict.

Are we now proposing sanctions against Israel for an assassination plot on foreign soil, or is this another instance of two law books, one for our friends and another for out enemies?

Israel does stuff like this and then wonders why the world considers it a pariah.

Terrorists are fair game wherever they live. There is no right or wrong here.

Hamas and the Israeli government/Mossad: two sides of the same coin. They will be murdering each other long after I, my children and grandchildren are buried because neither side possesses the courage to find peace. Yes, Israel has the "courage" to drop bombs on, and fire missiles and artillery at, Palestinians and their homes, including those where !8 members of Batash's family were killed, and to mount sneaky assassinations of those who resist Israel in the only feasibly violent ways. And Hamas has the "courage" to plant bombs on buses and in bars to kill Israelis and shoot its worthless missiles toward Israel to try to kill Israelis. Mossad is no better than Hamas and Hamas is no better than Mossad. They both thrive off cowardly murdering in the name of causes that have lost many if not most of their supporters and sympathizers. They deserve each other. But those Israelis and Palestinians who want to live in peace and dignity deserve leaders they are likely to never get. At this point Israel is in the far stronger position to change the ugly, murderous dynamics between these peoples. Its continuing refusal to do so would frustrate and anger any human being. If Israel wants to end the threats posed by Hamas, it needs to start by ending the daily humiliations of its neighbors and dispossession of their land, and by getting serious about peace. Or they can keep beating, imprisoning and killing their neighbors and see what that achieves in their future relations.

"Fadi al-Batsh, a well-liked electrical engineering lecturer and devout family man, always had a smile for his friends and students in the seven years since he moved to Malaysia from his native Gaza." Talk about shaping an article. The man was involved in abetting terrorists. Good riddance.

Terrorism goes both ways. Assassination such as this invites the other side to implement the same plan for the Jews anywhere in the world.

So like Russia, anyone tries to escape prison is targeted for death. Israel is no different than Russia, North Korea or Hamas - all terrorists.

By time FOX airs this story, Israel will be the victim.

Israel doesn't need the permission of anyone, anywhere, to protect the safety of its citizens or Jews in the diaspora. The days of Jews having to beg others for protection, pleas which usually fell on deaf ears, are over. People better start learning to deal with it.

No one kills Jews anymore. That ended with the Nazis. Israel is perfectly clear that the cost of terrorism will be death. This terrorist made his decision, and paid justly for it

Hammas sends engineers overseas to gather know-how and weaponry.... And they wonder why they're targeted? Stupid is as Stupid Does.

My son has lived in Malaysia over 10 years (and is a Muslim). He says the government is very corrupt, and in the Saudi sphere of influence because of multiple loans from the Saudis after the prime minister stole taxpayer funds and secreted them out of the country. UMNO, the 'majority' party, is always undermining potential opponents or having them thrown in jail. There is possible near-slave labor going on at the various huge plantations in Malaysia. I agree that Mossad should not be operating with assassins in foreign countries, but they also would never have been successful in having this man arrested or tried in Malaysia for terrorism. But current or former Mossad operatives have been employed in this country by Harvey Weinstein, seeking to silence and intimidate his victims...and journalists. Ronan Farrow of NYTimes has talked about being followed by Mossad for his articles in more than one publication about Weinstein. I think the Israelis can't have it both ways. If Mossad is ordered not to operate in Western democracies, then we shouldn't approve of assassinations in other nations, either. Current or former operatives being used a personal mercenaries should be outlawed.

I am curious what the difference is between the Russian assassination attempt in the UK and this? In both cases you have a state actor deciding to kill someone without even identifying the crime involved. Why isn't Israel being brought up before the UN like Russia was?

This devout family man and kind professor probably had no qualms blowing up Jewish kids in Israel. The proof, you ask? Look at the 10 masked and armed terrorists posted at his funeral. Its very easy for Americans to throw rocks at the Mossad but given the impossible situation they are in, I would rather prefer they succeed than the other way around, Thank you!

Two rules one for our enemies one for our allies .The hypocrisy of the U S government is astounding.

To the commenters here, I guess the US had no right to violate the sovereignty of Pakistan when it went in without that government's permission to kill bin Laden. We should have let Pakistani officials know of our displeasure that he was being hosted there and counted on them to arrest him, perhaps even read him the equivalent of his Miranda rights, consider his bail application etc. Thank goodness that neither Obama in that case nor Israel in this case operated in the ridiculous fantasy land of these commenters.

Let anyone who thinks that the NYT editorial staff doesn't have an anti-Israel bias note that articles reflecting unflattering portrayals of Israel invariably are open to comments, in order to amplify the condescension and condemnation. Also, words matter. The target of this assassination was not a dissident, but a member of a terrorist group that even European countries otherwise sympathetic to the Palestinians agree is a terrorist group. Frankly this is scarcely different from the United States' approach to enemy combatants in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

We don't know who did this, whether Israel or someone else. It's all cloak and dagger stuff What we do know is he was bad guy and is dead. Good news, I say.

Those that criticize Israel quickly forget how Hamas fired rockets from school yards and hospitals so Hamas could act in outrage about how the Israeli's killed innocents when the Israelis retaliated to protect their citizenry as was their right. This "suicide by Israeli" is the more sophisticated analog of suicide bombing by Hamas because the Israelis pulled the trigger and got blamed for it. Unfortunately more martyrs and therefore more hatred of Israel came into being. I'm truly tired of the chicken and egg aspect of who harmed whom last and in what magnitude but put the blame where it belongs. Moreover, as of now and despite the tenor of the article, there is no proof Israel is behind this killing.

So comments are finally open on this article. Do apologists for the Israeli government really understand what a violation of international law this is? Or what the potential consequences could be? Is it ok if China goes around shooting dissidents in the U.S.? Saudi Arabia? Other countries have every right to be wary. Perhaps a shutdown of Israeli tourism in Southeast Asia is on the way.

It's important to distinguish between Israel and the Israeli hard right who never met a problem that couldn't be solved with brute force. Until Israeli voters, including underrepresented Palestinians, turn the government around, Mossad will continue to execute the long-term solution of killing enough bad guys one at a time.

Assassinating someone in a foreign country is presumptively a serious violation of international law and norms. The burden is on Israel to prove that this assassination was justified. Very little evidence is provided in this article as justification for the murder. The public needs more than mere unsubstantiated allegations. The Netanyahu government's disdain for world opinion and norms is bad for Israel and only stokes the fires of antisemitism.

Quote: "In 2014, his (Batsh’s) uncle, Tayseer al-Batsh, the Gaza police chief, was nearly killed by Israeli airstrikes. Eighteen members of the Batsh family died in those raids.” 18 members of his family were killed in an Israeli bombings (“raids”). 18! That’s an astonishing figure. This guy was a survivor of state terrorism that wiped out 18 family members, but he’s the terrorist? Furthermore, the headline for this article should have been, “Mossad assassins strike in Malaysia,” but that would have been too truthful.

Oh yes the "kind professor" whose "passion was education" - thank you NYT for this moving tribute to a ruthless killer - The evil Israeli empire strikes again, huh? If only it was so easy to stop everyone bent on Israel's destruction, good job Mossad, no one else is going to help. Of course the Israel bashers will have a field day declaring this a violation of international law, as if they even have a clue what they are talking about - this man was a combatant and fair game. A call for sanctions against Israel, really? These are the kind of people that would run crying for retribution the second their interests were threatened and would not mind the methods, the hypocrisy is so tough to swallow. Bottom line, not only was this a great mission by Mossad, the US should be taking notes.

Israel has no right to assassinate scientists and engineers in another country. Israel is defending itself against human rights. The people of Gaza are forced into a ghetto and shot if they go near the fence. Returning to their homes which they were forced out of by Israel is repelled by the IDF. Every sniper shot is approved and recorded by military generals. So killing children such as Alaa Zamli aged 15 and Mohammad Ayoub age 14 is acceptable to Israel and its supporters.

Very recently Israeli Snipers have gunned down roughly 40 Palestinians. Murdered from a long range distance. Several were media members wearing vests identifying them as such. This is a human rights violation. Now the open and brazen assassination on a sovereign nation's soil? The sanctions applied to Russia should apply here as well.

The connection of Hamas to North Korea should raise some eyebrows. Unfortunately, for those who are anti-Israel, everything is fair game, including the aforementioned.

I'm surprised that this article doesn't at least ask questions about the legality or morality of Israel taking actions like this. Also quoting the Israeli government as saying they denying any role without noting that they wouldn't admit it even if they had is misleading

Terrorism is a cruel and merciless tactic. Those who use it should expect retribution for it. I have no sympathy for humans who coldly murder innocents to intimidate others into compliance with their demands. But payback can and has been directed at some who were indirectly responsible which slips payback into feud, and that is when it leads to the killing of other innocents.

The behavior of the state of Israel und thus matter is barbaric and clearly in violation of international law. Israel should be subject to the same sanctions that followed Russian assassination of a former spy in the UK. International condemnation and a boycott are the only ways to end Israel's unethical actions.