Lawfare: The IDF’s Legal Front
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עברית (Hebrew)
By Avihai Mandelblit
INSS – Military and Strategic Affairs Program
Lawfare is closely linked to the theme of this issue of Military and Strategic Affairs: the challenges facing the regular armies of law-abiding nations engaged in asymmetrical confrontations in densely populated civilian urban areas. Therefore, as part of its preparations for the challenges it may have to face in the future, particularly in this type of fighting, the IDF must give the proper weight to the legal front that is likely to develop as an integral part of the same confrontation.
For several years it has been customary to speak of four fronts that must be considered in a confrontation, two traditional and two relatively new. It is clear, however, that an army cannot win a battle without preparations and significant achievements on each of the four fronts. The traditional fronts are the military and the political. On the military front, it is obvious that successes are achieved by fire and maneuvers related to targets. Clearly, military achievements must be translated into political achievements in order to serve the political objective. Today, however, this is not enough. It is also necessary to prepare for attaining achievements on the two new fronts: the media/consciousness front and the legal front ……
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Avihai Mandelblit, former Military Advocate General, IDF
This article was first published in Military & Strategic Affairs journal. Volume 4, issue 1.
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