Philosopher Muhammad Ali Khalidi (CUNY Graduate Center) writes:

Some readers of your blog may not realize that there is a philosophical dimension to what’s happening in Gaza.  In 2005, the former head of Israeli military intelligence, Amos Yadlin, co-authored an article in a philosophy journal with philosophy professor Asa Kasher, in which they explicitly reject the Principle of Distinction in International Humanitarian Law.  They argue, in effect, that in Israel’s military campaigns, greater priority ought to be given to protecting the lives of Israeli soldiers than Palestinian civilians — and they think they’ve given a moral justification for this conclusion.  I think their arguments are not sound and have tried to show why in another journal article (and in this shorter encyclopedia entry and blogpost).

This is not just an academic exercise on the part of Kasher and Yadlin.  There’s strong evidence that this new “code of ethics” for the Israeli military has played an important role in Israel’s wars since it was written, giving commanders and soldiers cover for violating the Principle of Distinction with impunity.  Israeli organizations like Breaking the Silence have collected a great deal of testimony to suggest that such directives have been transmitted down the chain of command and account partly for the huge numbers of Palestinian civilian casualties in Israel’s successive military campaigns in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon. 

We have noted Professor Kasher's public interventions previously.