Haim Watzman What was most surprising about the conference on Battle Ethics in the Cast Lead Operation held on Sunday by the Ethics Center at Mishkenot Sha’ananim in Jerusalem was how much agreement there was among speakers with ostensibly different points of view. Everyone from noted liberal Mordechai Kremnitzer to the IDF’s favorite ethicist Asa [...]
Dueling Ethicists in Gaza
February 24th, 2009 · 17 Comments · Culture and Ideas
Tags: Asa Kasher·Gaza·Israel·Israel Defense Forces·just war theory·military ethics·Operation Cast Led
Bad War, Good Soldiers
January 29th, 2009 · 28 Comments · Politics and Policy
Haim Watzman I recently bumped into a mild-mannered, bookish paratrooper I know. He had come home to Jerusalem for a short weekend after spending two weeks in Gaza. I didn’t know what to expect when I asked him what he thought of the war. I thought I might hear him echo my own thoughts, and [...]
Tags: army·Gaza·Hamas·IDF·Israel·military ethics·soldiers
The Cliche Expert Visits Gaza (with apologies to Frank Sullivan)
January 22nd, 2009 · 4 Comments · Politics and Policy
Haim Watzman Q: Why Magnus Arbuthnot! How unexpected to see you in South Jerusalem! What brings you here? A: I have been sent by a respected and impartial NGO to investigate the carnage inflicted by Israel in the Gaza Strip. Q: Which NGO would that be? A: An NGO that uses an ostensible human-rights agenda [...]
Tags: cliche·Frank Sullivan·Gaza·humor·Israel
Risk and War
January 16th, 2009 · 11 Comments · Politics and Policy
Haim Watzman Howard Schweber’s analysis of the Gaza war in light of just war theory (in full at The Huffingon Post and in two parts, here and here on Jewcy) is thought-provoking and worthy of a longer response than I have time for before Shabbat on this short winter Friday. But I’d like to point [...]
Tags: Gaza·Howard Schweber·IDF·Israel·just war
Tough Love: The Moral Choices in the Gaza War
January 6th, 2009 · 35 Comments · Politics and Policy
Haim Watzman One series of questions posed to Israeli soldiers in discussions of war ethics goes something like this: If you were ordered to blow up a house where a terrorist commander was hiding, and you had reason to believe that enemy civilians were in the house, should the order be refused? If you were [...]
Tags: Gaza·Hamas·Israel·just war·morality·Palestinians·war
The Knesset Loses a Philosopher
December 23rd, 2008 · 1 Comment · Politics and Policy
Haim Watzman It’s a ritual that Israel observes before every election. One or more highly-qualified exemplars of what an Israeli parliamentarian lose out in their party primaries or decide, in disgust or exasperation, not to run again. This year’s latest victim is Isaac Ben-Israel, MK for the Kadima Party. In an interview with Ari Shavit [...]
Tags: defense·Gaza·Israel·Israel Defense Forces·Israeli politics·Knesset·philosophy
The Occupation Times: Ofra, Migron, Hebron, Gaza and a Splash of Optimism
December 22nd, 2008 · 4 Comments · Politics and Policy
Ofrah is illegal. Not just under international law, like all settlements – but also under Israeli law. The evidence is piling up. Ofrah, near Ramallah, was the first bridgehead of the Gush Emunim movement in West Bank hills north of Jerusalem. Recently human-rights activists have succeeded in prying information on the settlement from government repositories, [...]
Tags: B'Tselem·Freedom of Information Act·Gaza·Gush Emunim·Hebron·Migron·Ofrah
Gaza: The Peace of the Clumsy
June 17th, 2008 · 4 Comments · Politics and Policy
Gershom Gorenberg Maybe there will be quiet in and around Gaza on Thursday morning. This is not something to bet your savings on, or even your lunch money. According to this report , a Palestinian official says – as long as he can’t be quoted by name – that the fix is in for a [...]
Tags: Abbas·ceasefire·Gaza·Haniyeh·Khalil Shikaki
Thanks to Our Readers
April 6th, 2008 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
Readers’ notes in the last few days include these tidbits: Moshe Feiglin, head of the Manhigut Yehudit (“Jewish Leadership”) faction in the Likud, has been touring the U.S., speaking at synagogues such as Congregation B’nai Yeshurun in Teaneck. Manhigut Yehudit’s website includes a draft constitution in Hebrew with such features as a rabbinical council that [...]
Tags: Christian Zionists·Christians United for Israel·Eshman·fascism·Feiglin·Gaza·Hagee·Jewish Journal·John Hagee·Likud·Manhigut Yehudit·McCain·Merkaz Harav·Simhon

