Israeli military divided over Gaza war probes

A fierce debate is raging within Israel’s military over the extent to which soldiers should be held legally accountable for their actions during last year’s Gaza war, with commanders increasingly at odds with military lawyers.

The dispute has set off a firestorm in Israel, where many say the legal threat would shackle soldiers in any future battle, lower their morale and shatter a sacred trust on which Israel’s compulsory military service relies.

But with the Palestinians announcing their application last week to the International Criminal Court, the decision to investigate becomes all the more pressing: A robust Israeli inquiry into its military’s actions could be essential in thwarting an embarrassing and potentially incriminating outside probe. …

During 50 days of fighting, more than 2,100 Palestinians were killed, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry and the United Nations.

If Hamas troops insist on hiding behind civilians, there will be civilian casualties.

If Hamas troops insist on masquerading as civilians, there will be civilian casualties.

If the United Nations insists on covering up (or ignoring) these travesties, there will be civilian casualties.

You cannot litigate war. If normal law were sufficient to resolve a conflict, then you are not at war. You are in a state of war when no law, no cops, no judges, no subpoena served by process servers can resolve the conflict. You are in a state of war when rule of law is not possible, when the law either has no power or the law has itself become a hostile party to the conflict.

The point of war is to change the facts on the ground such that a return to rule of law becomes possible. That means killing the enemy. It may mean re-drawing boundaries and expelling the enemy to a safe distance. This is not a job for men with suits, robes, and briefcases, its a job for men with guns.

The men in suits come later, after the smoke clears and it is possible to resume rule of law, but new laws that reinforce the new status quo. Not the old laws that were part of what caused the war in the first place.

So in the meantime, this kind of fake legality is surreal in its dishonesty. The proper answer is, we’re at war. Get back to us after the war is over.

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