"I fear that the Israelis are doing exactly what Hamas hoped for in their response to the atrocity."
Robert Litt.
What is Israel to do? They were flagrantly, heinously attacked. It was an outrage. They must do something big, something that changes an intolerable status quo for the better.
Today's Guest Post returns to the theme I brought up two days ago. The actions that might feel right, the actions that might be demanded in a democratic polity, may not be the ones that best advance Israel's interest. The world now, and history, will look closely at how Israel responds.
There is news happening in a rush. The House is trying to choose a Speaker. Trump's legal problems. The war in Ukraine. The new economic numbers. The 2024 presidential nominations. I am in New Hampshire looking closely at that nomination story, I saw Nikki Haley last night and will see a half dozen more candidates today. But those reports can wait. There is a crisis in Israel.
Today's Guest Post is written by a college classmate, attorney Robert Litt. He is former General Counsel for the Director of National Intelligence, and is currently of counsel in Morrison & Foerster’s national security and global risk and crisis-management practices. He advises industry-leading organizations on sensitive national security and privacy matters, white collar investigations, and government enforcement actions. Litt is has extensive experience advising clients on national security matters. Readers may recognize his name from national media, which use him as a well-respected commenter to make sense of national securiry issues. His selection to be General Counsel passed the senate unanimously.
Guest Post by Robert Litt
I have a recollection that many years ago there was an editorial cartoon about the Mideast, perhaps by Pat Oliphant. Israel had been the subject of public condemnation for something - perhaps an incursion into Lebanon - but the PLO then hijacked a plane and blew it up on an airport runway (after the hostages were allowed to leave the plane). The cartoon showed a Bedouin-style tent with a group of stereotypically dressed Arabs sitting inside; through the open flap one could see a smoking plane, and an Arab running in holding a large trophy overhead, saying “Great news, comrades! We've just reclaimed the world stupidity trophy from the Israelis!”
I don’t mean to make light of the horrible suffering on both sides. But I fear that the Israelis are doing exactly what Hamas hoped for in their response to the atrocity. And as a lawyer who spent some years dealing with national security issues, I’m focused on the legal aspects, recognizing that there are diplomatic, moral and public relations aspects as well. Historically, despite much criticism, the IDF has actually been fairly careful about trying to comply with the laws of war by attacking what they consider to be military targets. Civilian casualties are inevitable in a war and are not considered a war crime if they come in the course of an attack on a valid military target, and the civilian casualties are “proportionate” to the military objective. When you bomb a munitions factory, civilian workers will be killed.
There’s no conceivable legal justification for what Hamas did - no one can say with a straight face that they were attacking military targets. And while in the past Israel has been able to defend its airstrikes in Gaza as going after military targets (with civilian casualties inevitable because of Hamas’ practice of placing military facilities in civilian areas - which can itself be a war crime), reports suggest that they are not being so discriminate now, and are, for example, flattening entire blocks. Moreover, I find it hard to consider cutting off all food, water and electricity to a population of 2.5 million as a valid military strategy. Sadly, it seems like Israel is just seeking punishment and revenge. Their rage and need to protect the country is understandable, but I wonder what the IDF lawyers are thinking.
Seeing bloody Gaza children rushed to hospitals with no water or electricity will not endear Israel to the world looking on.