Do Political Leaders Make Legitimate Targets Of War?
Israel's threat to assassinate Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh if the terrorist group does not return Gilad Shalit unharmed has created an international uproar. Many pundits and diplomats have scolded Israel for escalating a conflict unnecessarily and issuing a threat they see as illegitimate. However, just as with some Americans almost five years after 9/11, people seem almost deliberately taking the warning out of its larger context.
First, the facts as reported by The Australian (via Hot Air):
ISRAEL last night threatened to assassinate Palestinian Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh if Hamas militants did not release a captured Israeli soldier unharmed.The unprecedented warning was delivered to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a letter as Israel debated a deal offered by Hamas to free Corporal Gilad Shalit.
It came as Israeli military officials readied a second invasion force for a huge offensive into Gaza.
Not much in the way of confirmation has come through since this initial report. The Jerusalem Post does not have a story on its site this morning confirming this threat, nor does the BBC or other wire services have any other independent reporting on this. It may have been a false leak, intended to either make Israel look bad or appear out of patience with the situation.
However, if true, this threat has to be viewed in the larger context of both the immediate situation and the larger history of the conflict. The central fact of this incident is that Palestinians crossed over from unoccupied Gaza into Israel, and that the Palestinian government did not take action to either stop them or to return Gilad Shalit. In fact, Hamas gave the act its endorsement, and evidence exists that Hamas planned and executed the invasion. That makes it an act of war -- as if the daily shower of Kassam rockets from Gaza into Israel didn't already qualify for that status.
That means that the entire political structure as well as the military/security command becomes a fair target. The detention of Hamas ministers does not constitute any breach of the rules of war; as members of the opposing government, the IDF can target them for attack or capture. They should have POW status under those conditions, but they still are legitimate targets.
So too is Ismail Haniyeh. As Prime Minister, he runs the executive and again shares responsiblity for any acts of war committed by the Hamas terrorists. As the leader of Hamas, the terrorist actions of his group qualifies him for terrorist status as well. Besides, Palestinian threats to kill Israeli government officials hardly gives them any moral standing to complain about this particular threat.
Is the targeting of Haniyeh a wise move? Military strategy usually reserves attacks on political leadership as a last resort, as one needs a legitimate voice for the opponents to negotiate truces and/or surrenders when possible. However, one can easily argue that Haniyeh's role in terrorism strips him of that legitimacy. The Israelis can also argue with substantial cause that they need to make the so-called political wing of Hamas personally responsible for its terrorism, and that the IDF has tried just about everything else to make their point. That got underscored by Haniyeh himself when he declared that Hamas would never recognize Israel, implicitly or explicitly, and that the much-ballyhooed NCD did nothing towards resolving that point.
A nation at war with another state or protostate can legitimately target the political leadership of its opponents under the rules of war. Those who object to Israel's right to target Ismail Haniyeh either do not recognize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a war or are determined to oppose Israel under any and all conditions. The fact is that the Palestinians have conducted a low-level war against Israel ever since they pulled out of Gaza, and that the Israelis have finally responded in kind to this latest provocation.
Posted by Ed Morrissey on July 1, 2006 11:07 AM | Comments () | TrackBacks (7)
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