Recognizing the constraints of international law the IDF ensures that its lawyers scrutinize almost every strike in Gaza
Fighting Wars in a Minefield of L… JPost - Diplomacy & Politics
In the thick of Operation Pillar of Defense, former head of the IDF International Law Division Col. (res.) Liron Libman told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that the impact of lawyers on IDF operations has never been stronger.
Libman explained, as he had in a recent speech at a Tel Aviv University conference, that the law has become so institutionalized as a value and an operational consideration that “frequently IDF generals would decide not to take military actions” even where Libman might have indicated “that the action would not violate international law.”
He said that the IDF high command understands that today’s “wars are fought in a minefield of lawyers.”
In his approximately three years as the senior international law expert for the IDF, his battles included the Goldstone Report and the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla. He also continually integrated the IDF’s approximately 20 international lawyers, plus additional reserve-lawyers, into every aspect of the planning and execution process of IDF operations.
