Just War Theory in Israel and the International Community

Does Israeli law diverge from international law when it comes to the moral principles that dictate the conditions a war must meet to be considered just, and the standards of fighting a just war?  How do Israeli moral philosophers evaluate the Israel-Hamas war? Where is there agreement and where is there debate with legal theorists and ethicists in the international community? Yitzhak Benbaji, a research fellow of the Kogod Research Center at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and professor of philosophy at Tel Aviv University, will explore the range of approaches to the current war and their implications. 

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Ethics of War: Jewish, Philosophical, and Legal Perspectives
The horrors of October 7th and the subsequent war in Gaza have raised urgent questions around Israel’s military response and the degree to which it is morally and legally justified. These questions are being litigated by politicians, policy makers, philosophers, and on social media, and have given rise to a range of responses, in both the international community and in Israel. The debates are dynamic, changing, and evolving in real time. In this series, Idit Shafran Gittleman, Shlomo Brody, and Yitzhak Benbaji, three leading Israeli thinkers in this field, will explore the ethics of war through traditional Jewish sources, moral philosophy, and law.

Other sessions in this series:

• Ethics and Rules of Proportionality in the Israel-Hamas War (Idit Shafran Gittleman)
• Siege Warfare and Civilian Casualties: Jewish Values and Israel’s Dilemma (Shlomo Brody)

This program is part of Ideas for Today, curated courses by Hartman Institute scholars on the big Jewish ideas we need to think better and do better.