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Spanish Judge Went Too Far: Targeting Gaza Terror Mastermind Not a War Crime

[Ynet News] Robbie Sabel - A Spanish court is seeking to indict senior Israeli figures involved in targeting Salah Shahade. The notion of war crimes was not meant for these kinds of cases. There is no doubt that the objective, killing a terrorist, was legitimate. War crimes cases normally refer to the deliberate and cold-blooded killing of civilians, and not to considerations in respect to which means should be used against a legitimate target. Any military operation may entail civilian casualties if the military target is close by, and military officials need to make an effort to minimize the number of citizens involved. This case presents a question of professional judgment regarding the proper means, yet in no way does it argue that Israel embarked on the operation in order to kill civilians. Therefore, what we see here is the misuse of the universal authority to look into war crimes, and we can assume that the Spanish authorities themselves would appeal the judge's decision: The legal system is supposed to deal with criminal matters and not with the military operations of other states. We should expect to see continuing efforts by hostile elements to harass Israeli commanders at various courts worldwide. The only way to prevent it is to act via the various governments. Foreign governments are aware that the IDF is an organized army that operates in line with international law, and that Israel is home to an independent judiciary. Israel is attempting to prompt every state to promote legislation that would prevent the courts from acting based on complaints with a political bent. The writer, an international law lecturer at Hebrew University, is a former Foreign Ministry legal advisor.
2009-05-06 06:00:00
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