Steven Katz: Israel's war against Iran is just
Israel is waging an existential fight for its survival as a Jewish state. And it is winning and fighting well.
Now, it's apparent to most reasonable observers that Israel and Iran have been in a state of heightened hostilities since the Iranian-enabled Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. In fact, prior to Israel's escalation early June 13, Iranian-armed, -funded and -directed proxy groups such as Hamas, the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon have indiscriminately launched thousands of rockets at Israel's population centers — killing and injuring scores of civilian men, women and children. In addition, the Iranian regime directly launched hundreds of ballistic missiles toward Israel in April and October. Even the Iranian leaders have acknowledged that they are at war with Israel and seek its destruction.
One must apply the appropriate just war standard 'jus in bello' to determine whether Israel's attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and scientists, ballistic missile sites and military leadership is just. Since June 13, many experts have been debating whether the Israeli strikes were 'preemptive,' which is a normative exception allowing for military action prior to an imminent threat from materializing. In 1967, Israel had intelligence that Egypt was preparing to attack Israel, and Israel preemptively destroyed 90% of Egypt's air force prior to the Six-Day War. Conversely, 'preventative' military action is forbidden as it allows for states to attack other states over remote concerns or potential future threats that could be years or decades away. However, what both standards have in common is that they are used when two countries are not in a state of hostilities. For this reason, these standards are inappropriate to gauge the justness of Israel's actions against Iran.
What the world witnessed on June 13 was a continuation of ongoing hostilities between Israel and Iran and its proxies. Whether Iran could assemble a nuclear bomb in weeks or months informed the urgency of the Israeli military strikes but has no bearing on whether the current flare-up is just or unjust.
Therefore, the right questions we should ask to determine whether Israel's Operation Rising Lion is just is whether the Israeli military is striking targets that are necessary to achieve its military objectives — to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons program; whether the strikes are proportional; whether Israel is targeting people and infrastructure that are not lawful, such as schools, homes and mosques that are not being used for a military purpose; and lastly whether Israel is taking measures to mitigate unintended harm to civilians.
All credible reporting demonstrates that Israel is going after only military targets that directly support the Iranian nuclear program and enable the regime's ability to attack Israel. To date, Israel has eliminated six top Iranian generals and nine nuclear scientists, targeted and destroyed a third of Iran's missile launchers, and attacked and degraded critical uranium enrichment facilities such as the ones at Natanz and Isfahan.
According to Iranian authorities, at least 224 Iranians have been killed, but like the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, this figure and its breakdown of civilians and combatants should be taken with a heavy grain of salt. Like Hamas, we should expect this figure to be both inflated and obfuscate combatant and civilian deaths. However, even if we accepted that most of the 224 Iranians killed were civilians, then it is still a comparatively low number given the hundreds of targets the Israeli military has engaged since June 13. For context, the U.S. military authorized up to 10 civilians killed per strike against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq.
In addition to the Israeli military demonstrating distinction between military targets and civilians, the military is also taking active measures to protect Iranian civilians from strikes — saying on June 16 on X, 'In the coming hours, the IDF will operate in the area, as it has done in recent days around Tehran, to attack military structures belonging to the Iranian regime.' The account went on to say that 'citizens of Iran, for your safety and security, please evacuate the area.'
Now, let's turn to the Iranian regime's grotesque conduct since June 13. Iran has indiscriminately launched approximately 400 ballistic missiles at Israel, zeroing in on population centers in Tel Aviv and Haifa. So far, all the Israelis killed have been civilians, and numerous residential apartment buildings have collapsed or have been declared uninhabitable. It should be no surprise that Iran's conduct and despicable tactics are no different from the terror groups it supports such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.
To give Iran some credit, the Iranian military did tell Israelis to vacate the entire country, but this was obviously a threat and not to spare lives during future salvos: 'Warnings for you in the coming days: Leave the occupied territories, because, certainly, they won't be inhabitable in the future!'
The Iranian regime would use any means to vacate the Jews from the land of Israel. They have made this point clear in the means and methods of their ballistic missile response. Iran is the aggressor and continues to contravene the laws of war. There is no doubt they would use nuclear weapons against the people of Israel if they had them.
For this reason, Israel must stay the course to achieve a lasting, secure and just peace.
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