Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 14, 2011 Page: 4 of 32
thirty two pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
4 I April 14,2011
NEWS ANALYSIS
TEXAS JEWISH POST & SINCE 1947
Pushed by the Goldstone Report, Israeli
army embraces new 'smart' warfare
By Leslie Susser
JERUSALEM (JTA)- Despite Is-
rael's rejection of the Goldstone
Report on the Gaza war a year-
and-a-half ago, the international
criticism it engendered has led
the Israel Defense Forces; (IDF)
to make a number of significant
changes in its policy and doctrine.
And they'll stay even though
Richard Goldstone has recanted one
of the most significant findings of
his committee's report - that Israel
intentionally targeted civilians and
may have perpetrated war crimes
and crimes against humanity in
Gaza.
Among the changes made by the
IDF were modifying the way sol-
diers fight in urban areas, teaching
relatively low-level combat officers
nuances in the laws of war, attaching
humanitarian liaison officers to ac-
tive forces and making media rela-
tions a priority.
Last May, eight months after the
Goldstone Report was released, the
IDF issued a new document defin-
ing rules of engagement in urban
warfare. Although the ideas elabo-
rated long had been standard prac-
tice, putting them down in writing
was tantamount to introducing a
new doctrine for fighting in built-up
areas.
The document noted that during
the Gaza operation, even after ev-
ery effort had been made to induce
civilians to evacuate areas where
combat was expected -for example,
by dropping fliers and making di-
rect telephone calls to area residents
- more often than not some non-
combatants stayed behind.
The new doctrine requires that
after efforts have been made to warn
the civilian population to leave, the
incoming troops first fire warning
shots and give the remaining civil-
ians a chance to leave safely. Then,
to minimize casualties among civil-
ians who nevertheless choose to stay,
IDF fighters and commanders must
use the most accurate weapons at
their disposal and choose munitions
of relatively low impact. The IDF has
also taken significant legal steps.
Officer training courses at com-
pany, battalion and brigade levels
now include detailed study of inter-
national law, with special reference
to the rules of war. The Military
Advocate General's Office and the
Foreign Ministry consult regularly
with foreign governments and in-
ternational organizations to ensure
that all IDF operations conform to
accepted legal norms.
During the month-long Gaza
Photo: Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90/JTA
Israeli reservists taking part in an urban warfare exercise at a base in southern Israel in
which they can simulate training as if they were fighting in the Gaza Strip or West Bank,
October 2010
War in the winter of 2008-09, legal
advisers from the Military Advocate
General's Office served with com-
bat forces, advising commanders in
real time of what might constitute a
breach of law. In January 2010, then
Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ash-
kenazi standardized this practice,
instructing commanders to con-
sult with legal advisers not only in
the planning stages of military op-
erations, but also during the actual
fighting.
To prevent possible loss of mili-
tary focus, however, Ashkenazi or-
dered that the legal advisers be sent
to divisional headquarters rather
than battalions or brigades, as is
common in some other Western
armies.
Another step the IDF has taken
to help minimize civilian casualties
and humanitarian distress on the
other side is to attach humanitarian
liaison officers to troops in the field.
The officers come from a pool set
up by the Coordinator of Govern-
ment Activities in the Territories, or
COGAT, and are in regular contact
with the Palestinian Authority in
the West Bank and international aid
organizations in Gaza.
Their task in the event of hos-
tilities is to help coordinate humani-
tarian needs on the Palestinian side
and to point out locations of sensi-
tive facilities like hospitals, schools
and U.N. aid centers to ensure that
they are not mistakenly targeted.
Such officers were assigned during
the Gaza War on an ad hoc basis and
according to the IDF, proved very ef-
fective.
As a result, Ashkenazi decided in
February 2010 to refine and institu-
tionalize the system.
The most radical change in IDF
thinking since the Goldstone Report
has been in the realm of media rela-
tions. Now there is a firm consensus
in the army that the way military ac-
tions are perceived is at least as im-
portant as their physical impact.
Brig.-Gen. Avi Benayahu, the Is-
raeli army's outgoing spokesman, is
fond of quoting the U.S. Joint Chiefs
of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mul-
len's dictum that whereas public
relations once was supplemental to
battle, now battle is supplemental to
PR.
More than ever, IDF generals
agree, all operations must now be
planned with media, legal and in-
ternational legitimacy aspects in
mind. To instill more media savvy,
the IDF Spokesperson's Office rou-
tinely sends its mobile communica-
tions' school unit from one combat
unit to the next teaching officers to
get their messages across in 20-sec-
ond sound bites. More important,
trained media officers are now at-
tached to combat units. This means
that in future combat situations,
commanders will have legal, hu-
manitarian and media advice on
tap. Not everyone is happy with the
changes. Some say it will make it
difficult for the Israeli army to op-
erate in combat situ ations and won't
prevent the next Goldstone Report
because, they say War is always ugly,
brutal and destructive.
Nevertheless, it seems that in the
post-Goldstone era, with Israel un-
der severe international scrutiny, the
IDF is determined to do all it can to
uphold the strictest standards of in-
ternational law.
Moreover, the IDF is collaborat-
ing with some of the human rights
organizations critical of its actions
to make sure cases of alleged IDF
misconduct are handled appropri-
ately. Last July, the military advocate
general, Avichai Mendelblit, singled
out B'Tselem, which monitors Is-
raeli actions against Palestinians, for
thanks.
"Between the military and vari-
ous human rights organizations,
there is constant dialogue," IDF
spokesman Capt. Barak Raz told
Forward newspaper last year.
Another inkling of the IDF's
heightened legal sensitivity came
earlier this month, when the Israeli
army notified the Supreme Court
that any Palestinian civilian deaths
in the West Bank caused by the IDF
in noncombat situations will now
automatically spark a criminal in-
vestigation.
Under the old policy, the army
first conducted a fact-finding field
inquiry to decide whether or not
to open a criminal file, laying it-
self open to charges that the "fact-
finding" often was simply a ruse to
block criminal proceedings. Now
such criminal investigations will be
mandatory.
In what American military strat-
egist Edward Luttwak has dubbed
"the post-heroic era," the IDF finds
itself hampered by two major con-
straints: care not to conduct opera-
tions that might incur international
censure or operations that could
lead to heavy Israeli military casual-
ties.
Sometimes the two principles are
at odds, as when Israeli ground forc-
es used heavy fire in the Gaza War
to avoid casualties, and in so doing
put Palestinian civilian lives at risk.
But often they are complementary,
as in the IDF's reluctance to com-
mit ground troops unless absolutely
necessary.
Part of the solution to the post-
Goldstone dilemma lies in technol-
ogy. For example, using super-ac-
curate munitions that can pinpoint
terrorist targets, pilotless planes
that can identify and attack would-
be rocket launchers and active de-
fense systems like the Iron Dome
- anti-missile batteries that last
week downed several Grad rockets
launched from Gaza. The system
simultaneously located their launch
points, enabling immediate attacks
on the militiamen firing them.
These capabilities enabled Israel
to cool the latest Gaza flare-up with-
out incurring international oppro-
brium or risking soldiers' lives.
In other words, the Goldstone
Report and its international rami-
fications have pushed the IDF into
a process of self-examination re-
sulting in a new doctrine of "fight-
ing smart" from operational, legal,
humanitarian and media points of
TUP
TEXAS JEWISH P0ST$S!NCE 1947
Jimmy Wisch
Publisher & Editor | 1947-2002
Rene Wisch
Publisher & Editor | 1947-2010
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
Sharon Wisch-Ray
sharonw@texasjewishpost.com
VP SALES & MARKETING
Amy Doty
a myd@texa sjewish post.com
STAFF WRITER
Rachel Gross Weinstein
rachelg@texasjewishpost.com
COPY EDITOR/STAFF WRITER
Rachel Kaufman
rachelk@texasjewishpost.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Laurie James, Deb Silverthorn,
Steve Wisch
AD REPRESENTATIVES
Nancy Sadicarios
n a ncys@texa sjewis h post.com
Judy Wisch, Linda Wisch Davidsohn
ART DIRECTOR
Delia Jalomo deliaj@texasjewishpost.com
Views and opinions of columnists and contributors a re their own
and not necessarily those of this newspaper. All rights re-
served. Photocopying,reproduction or quotation strictly
prohibited without permission from the publisher. Com-
position responsibility: This newspaper will not be liable
for errors appearing in advertisements beyond the cost
of the space occupied by the error.Advertisers assume
responsibility for errors in telephone orders. We are not
responsible for the Kashruth of any product or establish-
ment advertised in the Texas Jewish Post. Advertisers are
responsible for authenticity of any claims or statements
made in their advertisements and are not endorsements
by the Texas Jewish Post.
DALLAS
7920 Belt Line Rd.,Suite 680
Dallas,TX 75254
972-458-7283 | 972-458-7299 FAX
FORT WORTH
P.O. Box 12087, Fort Worth, TX 76110
817-927-2831 PHONE
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Subscription Rates: Texas: $35 per year, Other States in
U.S.:$45 per year. Foreign: $70 per year. Subscriptions
are payable in advance. Unless notified otherwise,it is
understood that all subscriptions are renewed automati-
cally upon expiration.Please allow four weeks from date
received by the Texas Jewish Post for address changes
to take effect.
The Texas Jewish Post(ISSN 0040-439X) is published
weekly, with an additional issue in the first quarter.
The Texas Jewish Post is published at 3120 South
Freeway,Fort Worth,Texas 76110-4334. Periodicals Post-
age Paid at Fort Worth, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send ad-
dress changes to the Texas Jewish Post, P.O. Box 12087,
Fort Worth, Texas 76110.
J' .
* *i
AJm
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Wisch-Ray, Sharon. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 14, 2011, newspaper, April 14, 2011; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth188340/m1/4/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .