On IDF Morality and the Law

I attended on conference last week and found that Arlene Kushner wrote something which I'l steal:

"The Fights to be Fought"

Last Thursday, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, in conjunction with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (Foundation), sponsored a conference: "Hamas, the Gaza War, and Accountability Under International Law."

A number of points made at that conference are worth sharing here. But I begin with what was for me a highlight:

Maj.-Gen. (res) Yaakov Amidror, chairing the session on "International Law & Military Operations in Practice," told us a story:

Years ago, he served in Intelligence for the IDF Northern Command. After considerable effort they had finally located a key member of Hezbollah, who had been responsible for Israeli deaths and was planning more of the same. He was inside a building, and his car sat outside. They planted a bomb under his car, with intentions of detonating it when he got in.

When the mark entered his car, however, he had a child with him.

Said General Amidror: "We didn't ask what international law said, we asked ourselves what was moral. Could we detonate that bomb with a child in the car?"

They decided they could not, and so they watched the Hezbollah terrorist (marked for another day) and the child drive away together.

Amidror speaking:



Photo Credit: YMedad