Op-ed: Instead of allowing the IDF to defend Israel’s citizens and win, the state comptroller has chosen to unconditionally give in to irrelevant demands in the name of international law. By demanding the inclusion of more legal advisers in the fighting ranks, he is harming the IDF’s ability to fight.
The state comptroller’s report on Operation Protective Edge, which was released last week, went relatively unnoticed.
I read it thoroughly and I feel an obligation to tell IDF commanders and the defense establishment that this is an erroneous report, which fails to understand the essence of the war, weakens the IDF, puts soldiers at risk and even helps increase the damage to the civilian population on both sides rather than reduce it.
The IDF should, therefore, refuse to accept the report’s findings—and stash it away.
The law of war system in international law is still based on laws from the end of World War II, which see war as a conflict between countries’ regular forces.
In the 21st century, reality is completely different, and the war is against stateless, uninhibited terrorists who use a civil population as a human shield and take advantage of international law’s incompatibility with this reality as a weak spot for targeting soldiers and civilians.
Instead of dealing with the terms of “proportionality” and “uninvolved civilians” to allow the IDF to defend the state’s citizens and win, the comptroller has chosen to grovel and unconditionally give in to irrelevant demands in the name of international law, harming the IDF’s ability to fight by demanding the inclusion of more legal advisers in the fighting ranks.
The comptroller’s report and the quotes from the chief of staff, Air Force commander and defense minister are a clear indication that they went above and beyond to reduce the damage to “uninvolved civilians.” Instead of praising them for that and concluding that there is no need for further involvement of jurists in the planning, in the course of the fighting and in the following operational investigation, the comptroller criticizes them and demands more and more judicialization—instead of understanding that because of its (important) desire and preoccupation with minimizing the damage to uninvolved civilians on the enemy side, the IDF nearly forgot to win in Operation Protective Edge.
As a result, the operation was extended, both sides suffered many losses and thousands of uninvolved civilians were hurt. Even when dealing with the legal side, the drawing of conclusions and the report should contribute to the ability to win rather than add another layer to the ass-covering. But that’s not what the state comptroller is doing.
Israel invests more than any other country in defending its citizens. The Iron Dome defense system and the law requiring a secure space in every apartment are just examples. Hamas hasn’t invested a penny in its citizens’ defense. On the contrary: A large part of the cement transferred to Gaza for civilian construction purposes is used to build tunnels for smuggling weapons or launching attacks against Israel. Furthermore, Hamas uses them as a human shield as it fires rockets aimed at harming out citizens. Hamas’ “uninvolved civilians” are actually “involved against their will,” and Hamas is responsible for their death.
How have we sinned? Is the fact that the efficient defense we have built fails to provide horrific images of wounded children? We should be proud of that. Instead, the comptroller is rewarding Hamas for its cynical use of children in the psychological warfare.
What proportionality do we owe the jurists sitting in the ivory towers in Europe, who have never heard a Code Red alarm in their lives? Yes, we’re a law-abiding state and we must act like a law-abiding state. And yes, when we plan wars, and then when we fight them, we do the utmost to avoid harming innocent civilians. But the IDF must first of all defend its citizens, and to do so it must fight and win. I have learned form my experience that persistence and aiming for victory does a better job in preventing damage to uninvolved citizens and serves the “proportionality” principle better too.
Israel doesn’t have to grovel to the international legal system, which is using an irrelevant war law codex. Instead, it can lead the legal handling of modern terrorism and promote an update of the war law to adapt it to reality.
During a conflict, the IDF should leave the responsibility in the commanders’ hands, while seeking assistance from legal experts, and not the other way around. The investigation aimed at drawing conclusions, and the criminal investigation aimed at clarifying things, are the IDF’s proper and sufficient tools, and there is no need to add another complex system.
As reported by Ynetnews