OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Proposed legislation to permit the force-feeding of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike is pitting Israel's government against the country's main doctors' association, which says the practice amounts to torture. The ethical and legal debate has taken on an urgent tone, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly asking to fast-track the bill as a hunger strike by dozens of Palestinian detainees entered its sixth week. At least 65 of 290 detainees have been hospitalized since the first group began a hunger strike April 24. Faced with the second large-scale Palestinian hunger strike in two years, Israel's government is promoting a bill that would allow a judge to sanction force-feeding if an inmate's life is perceived to be in danger. A judge must not only consider the prisoner's wishes, but also possible damage to the state, said Yoel Hadar of Public Security Ministry, which initiated the bill. However, there has been mounting opposition from Israel's medical establishment, with the Israel Medical Association urging physicians not to cooperate. "It goes against the DNA of the doctors to force treatment on a patient," a spokeswoman said. "Force-feeding is torture,” she said. — AP
