A recording by an American anthropologist exposed Pandora's box at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir. For years, organs and skin were removed from corpses illegally, without the families' consent. While Arie Eldad claims that all actions were done in accordance with the law, there is testimony from the Bozaglo family who lost their son Zeev, of God's memory, that claims the exact opposite, after the corneas were removed from his eyes.
Brigadier General (ret.) Dr. Arie Eldad, formerly the IDF Chief Medical Officer, was one of the leaders of the project, under which the IDF recruited many doctors for reserve duty at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine. "The IDF approached the Institute and requested a supply of skin, to be used mainly in case of disaster. We acted according to the law, which is absolutely clear, and requested permission from the families whose loved ones' bodies arrived to us. If the families agreed for us to take skin or other organs from the corpses, then we did; and if they refused, we did not touch the bodies," he recounted regarding the process.
It seems that after Arie Eldad finished his role, the procedures changed a bit. In 1997, Staff Sergeant Zeev Bozaglo, a soldier in the Golani brigade, was killed in a training accident. His father, Dr. Chaim Bozaglo, a pediatrician by profession, came to see his son's body before it was brought for burial. When he arrived at the institute, something about his son's body seemed wrong to him. "I see that they harmed him, that they practiced on him, his skin is cut and his eyes have no corneas," he recounted, "Even my wife, who is not a doctor, saw that the corneas were removed from his eyes."
Dr. Bozaglo says that removing the corneas and the incisions made in Zeev's body were against the law, "It's not that they didn't ask us and thought we said it was okay, we signed stating that we only agree to an autopsy, not one step beyond that." Ultimately, after it was decided that Hiss would not be criminally prosecuted, the family decided to sue Prof. Hiss, the Ministry of Health, and the IDF in a civil procedure.
An operating room at the Abu Kabir Institute | Photo: Channel 2 News
Hiss was recorded by Professor Nancy Scheper-Hughes, a famous anthropologist from UC Berkeley, who came to Abu Kabir as part of research she was conducting. Scheper-Hughes decided to release the recording following research done by a Swedish newspaper, which stated that Israel murders Palestinians to use their organs.
It is important to note that Scheper-Hughes and the Swedish journalist who eventually admitted his mistake, do not think Israel takes measures like this. Rather, they think the National Institute of Forensic Medicine does not discriminate between Palestinians and Israelis who arrive at the institute, and organs are taken from corpses of the dead from both nationalities, against the law and against consent of the families.
The Ministry of Health responded: "Organ harvesting for transplantation was known to us and was done with our approval. The procedures at that time on this matter were not clear. In general, organs for transplantation are taken from people who consented to organ donation while still alive. Use of organs for transplantation without consent - is not done at all. In the past there was a discussion by the Attorney General who determined that practicing on corpses should not be done without family consent. Since the Segelson Committee report that dealt with this matter and the Attorney General's decision, such practices are not done without family consent. The police who examined all aspects of this activity did not see fit to initiate any proceedings against those involved. For over ten years the Institute's work has been according to laws and subject to all moral, ethical and halachic rules."
Response from Prof. Yehuda Hiss, National Institute of Forensic Medicine, and Assaf Harofeh Hospital: "These are events that occurred a long time ago, even before responsibility for the Institute was transferred to Assaf Harofeh Medical Center. The committees that examined the mentioned issues determined there were only managerial failures, but subsequently Prof. Hiss lost his position as director of the Institute, and management was transferred to Assaf Harofeh Medical Center. Prof. Hiss remained in his role as the Institute's Chief Pathologist. At the same time, procedures were formulated for all areas of the Institute's activities and since then all activities are conducted according to these procedures."
IDF response: "The IDF spokesperson wishes to determine that this activity ended over a decade ago and no longer exists."