The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel is drafting a convention on fighting suicide bombers, which it hopes to present to the international community.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the document would seek international consensus on legitimate ways of fighting suicide attacks. It is to be submitted to the United Nations, but a date has not been set, they said.
On the surface, this appears to be a smart move. Israel is condemned by the international community at every turn when it tries to fight suicide terrorism on its own. This would, in effect, be a means for Israel to legitimize its methods at fighting terrorism, and to avoid the constant barrage of international criticism that rains down after every Israeli counter-move. Furthermore, it could serve as a roadmap for other countries, as suicide bombing inevitably spreads to their shores.
However, I can’t help but wonder what idealists are left in the Israeli government who are naive enough to still put faith in the United Nations. Once screwed, once shy. Twice screwed, twice shy. Three times screwed, give up already, the UN hates Israel and probably always will! I hate to say this, but like almost all of Israel’s moves of late, this one’s bound to backfire, as the UN will then have an excuse to condemn Israel for any counter-measure that does NOT appear in the final version of the convention. And since the convention is unlikely to include any measures that will prove effective, Israel will have effectively tied its own hands.
Who’s running political strategy over there anyway?
Absolutely. Take it from this lawyer, every legal document contains some weasel words like “reasonable”; ie “The IDF will take all reasonable precautions to avoid civilian casualties while pursuing terrorist suspects.”
These ambiguities must exist, as it is impossible to write a casuistic convention (ie “IDF soldiers will not attempt to shoot suspects in civilian areas at a range greater than 100 yards if there are more than two civilians within an arc of 10 degrees of the line of fire…”).
Thus the UN will seize on the ambiguities to hold Israel in breach of its own convention. After all, words like “reasonable” are all a matter of opinion, and the UN’s opinion is that Israel is always wrong.