25 Fall 2024 as those organizations are, they have aimed well at the laws’ “soft underbelly.” In this way, they have turned the international legal guidelines, which were intended to establish (normative) symmetry on the battlefield, into a device favoring the creation of asymmetry in their own favor. Thus, it has come about that the rules for armed conflict, and the conventions that were conceived to protect civilians, have turned largely into tools enabling civilians to participate on the battlefield instead of preserving their lives. Therefore, an understanding that the war itself actually continues – by other means – even after the cannons are silent is the only thing that can enable terrorism to be dealt with effectively; and ultimately it may also lead to a reduction in terrorism. The horrific massacre of October 7 makes the canonical texts of the international covenants impossible to recite with the same confidence as before. It has forced the Western world to re-examine the legal paradigms and conventions. Our fast-changing reality requires appropriate responses. One response must combine an appropriate analysis of Western heuristic thinking, an unblinking view of the complex reality, and an answer to the challenges that face the legal systems of Israel and of the other Western nations that value survival. n Col. (Res.) Adv. Ran Cohen Rochverger is a former Chief Military Defender for the IDF. He now heads an office specializing in criminal law and in cases of white-collar crime.
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