One of the measures proposed in face of the wave of terrorism that began over six months ago to deter other potential terrorists is the deportation of terrorists’ families or their assignment of residence. International law views the deportation of residents to areas outside territory subject to belligerent occupation as illegal. Similarly, assignment of residence of family members within that area for reasons other than preventing a direct threat or danger, and solely for the purpose of deterrence, raises significant legal...
The discovery of natural gas in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea is good news for Israel. The gas is expected to satisfy Israel’s energy needs for many years, and export to other states is expected to yield significant tax revenues. It is therefore generally said that the infrastructure for drilling natural gas and transporting it to Israel’s shores, mainly drilling platforms, constitutes a strategic asset for Israel.
Critical decisions regarding the future of the internet, or internets, are upon us. In his seminal book published in 2008, entitled The Future of the Internet: And How to Stop It, Professor Jonathan Zittrain of Harvard Law School laid out the core dilemma behind these decisions. On the one hand, the ubiquity of the world wide web, the richness of its resources, and the ease of access and transmission of information it provides for 2.7 billion people – which Zittrain calls the “generative internet” – have been...
This article seeks to shed some light on the application of international humanitarian law (IHL), otherwise known as the law of armed conflict or the laws of war, to the phenomenon of cyber warfare.
In recent years, lawyers have become increasingly involved in issues relating to warfare. This manifested itself in both the greater use of legal counsel in real time and in the growth of retroactive enforcement (investigations and prosecutions). The purpose of this article is to respond briefly to some of the criticism of this phenomenon.
This article reviews the legal frameworks that apply to targeted killings during warfare and examines what relevance, if any, the intensity of an aremd conflict may have for tge application of the targeted killing definition. Focusing on Israel, the article examines the legal frameworks that govern Israel when it carries out targeted killings, examines a number of case studies, and analyzes the results and implications of these instances. To that end it begins by building a framework for the discussion, and defining what constitutes...
Reciprocity is an accepted aspect of the laws of treaties and a recognized element of state responsibility. “No state is obliged by customary international law to remain passive when another state takes action inimical to its legally protected interests.” Countermeasures are likewise a recognized act of enforcement in international law, and the International Law Commission draft on the subject reads: “The wrongfulness of an act of a State not in conformity with an international obligation towards another State is precluded if...
On August 21, 2013 the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its own civilians, killing over 1,000 in a single attack. Following this horrific incident, some Western states, most notably the United States, contemplated attacking Syria without United Nations Security Council (UNSC) authorization, raising a heated debate among legal experts over the legal basis for such an attack under international law.
The Israeli expectation was that given the regional challenges and turbulence, and the collective sense of Salafist jihadism as a severe global threat, the State of Israel, the only functioning democracy in the Middle East and an element on the frontlines of the battle against radical Islam and terrorism, would gain international stature. Many are therefore surprised that the international delegitimization of Israel has continued to increase in scope and intensity, influencing a wide range of audiences, opinion makers, and...
Israel lives under the constant threat of enemies who seek its destruction and who systematically and grossly violate the laws of warfare. Despite this difficult reality, Israel in general and the IDF in particular must take care to continue to honor moral and legal norms, thereby distinguishing Israel from its enemies. For Israel’s enemies, one form of victory is a situation in which Israel loses its values as a Jewish and democratic state. It is imperative to deny the enemy this victory. Norms of morality and the laws of armed...
On July 16, 2015, a Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) accepted the request by the Union of the Comoros to review the decision by the ICC prosecutor not to investigate the incident of the Mavi Marmara flotilla to Gaza, and requested that the prosecutor reconsider her decision. By a majority of two to one, the judges determined that the prosecutor made material errors in her assessment of the gravity of the incident. The Chamber’s ruling offers a problematic interpretation of the gravity threshold, which...
