Targeted Assassinations 2.0
My politics have changed since I’ve come to Zion, but on at least one issue I haven’t moved an inch. On False Dichotomies 1.0 I regularly spoke out against the IDF practice of targeted assassinations – the sending of helicopter gunships and hit-squads to kill leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad et al. Since the dying down of the Intifada, the practice seems to have all but died out, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t remind ourselves why it’s wrong.
In December 2006, the High Court ruled that assassinations are permissible only if the target cannot be arrested instead, and that “harm to civilians will be legal only if it meets the demands of proportionality.” This ruling falls far from declaring the practice illegal, but at least it was a step in the right direction. Now, documents obtained by Haaretz show that even the High Court guidelines haven’t been adhered to. “The documents reveal that the IDF approved assassinations in the West Bank, even when it could have been possible to arrest the targets instead, and that top-ranking army officers authorised the killings in advance, in writing, even if innocent bystanders would be killed as well.”
We are often told that the IDF only targets so-called “ticking-bombs” (always a difficult claim to make when speaking about despicable heads of terrorist groups who would never put themselves up for martyrdom); now we learn that ”the assassination of at least one member of a so-called “ticking infrastructure” was postponed due to an impending visit by a senior U.S. official.” In other words, politics as usual.
The article goes on to cite examples of cases in which assassinations were approved even if there were unidentified people in the vicinity. It is important to note, though, that Chief-of-Staff Gabi Ashkenazi forbade the operation if there was more than one unidentified person in the car. More worryingly, given the supposed urgency of targeted assassinations, he then went on to say that “in light of the diplomatic meetings anticipated during the course of the week, the date of implementation should be reconsidered.” An IDF spokeperson acknowledged that diplomatic considerations were taken into account when planning operations, but “this does not detract from the operation’s urgency or necessity.”
Put simply, the IDF has been violating the High Court’s rulings. The High Court is the guardian of Israeli democracy, the IDF is its sword. If the IDF does not follow Israeli law, what hope is there for the rest of us? I don’t buy into the simplistic narrative which suggests that Israeli carried out assassinations during the Second Intifada in order to elicit an even more horrific response for the Palestinians. At the same time, though, empirical evidence continues to show that targeted assassinations are ineffective in confronting an urgency. Without sounding too smug, it’s nice to occasionally be vindicated. If – God forbid – the 3rd Intifada is ever upon us, I hope the IDF’s top brass will show a bit more wisdom in dealing with it.
Update: Here
