Law & “Lawfare”
ICJ Case Against Israel: Baseless and without Precedent by Mark Meirowitz, Jewish Policy Center, January 29, 2024
Why Israel is entitled in law to the “West Bank” by Melanie Phillips, November 30, 2023
Where Free Speech Ends and Lawbreaking Begins by Ilya Shapiro, The Free Press, November 27, 2023
The First Amendment does not give carte blanche to intimidation and harassment.
The way out of the campus conundrum by Mark Goldfeder, eJewishPhilanthropy, November 17, 2023
The Disproportionate Confusion About Proportionality by LTC Geoffrey S. Corn, USA (ret.), Lawfire Blog, Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), October 26, 2023
The Evacuation Of Northern Gaza: Practical And Legal Aspects by Michael N. Schmitt, Articles of War Israel – Hamas 2023 Symposium, Leiber Institute at the United States Military Academy West Point, October 15, 2023
Why Israel’s siege of Gaza is legal under international law by Thomas Wheatley, USA Today, October 14, 2023
Israel has acted swiftly against Hamas. It has acted effectively. And yes, even brutally. But it has acted lawfully.
Siege Law and Military Necessity by Geoff Corn and Sean Watts, Articles of War, October 13, 2023
International Law Supports Israel Besieging Gaza by Daled Amos, Elder of Ziyon, October 12, 2023
Neither coalition nor High Court respects Basic Laws. Urgently needed: A constitution by Haviv Rettig Gur, The Times of Israel, September 12, 2023
An immediate constitutional crisis is unlikely, but no enduring reform or end to the impasse is possible without deep trust — which no one in our system of government now enjoys
Eugene Volokh on Boycotts, Discrimination, and the First Amendment by Marilyn Stern, Middle East Forum Webinar, August 25, 2023 (video, 40’31”)
The Pending Israel-Palestine ICJ Advisory Opinion: Threats to Legal Principles and Security by Orde F. Kittrie and Bruce Rashkow, Lieber Institute, Articles of War, August 24, 2023
Killing 3 Palestinian terrorists and the Laws of War by Maurice Hirsch, Adv., Palestinian Media Watch, May 10, 2023
50 Israeli Supreme Court decisions by Rochel Sylvetsky, Arutz Sheva/Israel National News, May 2, 2023
These decisions, all handed down during Aharon Barak’s period, show more than any essay could why Israel needs judicial reform.
Lawsuits are key to fighting antisemitism by Phyllis Chesler, Jewish News Syndicate, April 20, 2023
Boycotts: A First Amendment History by Josh Halpern and Lavi Ben Dor, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Forthcoming (Vol. 47) / Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. No. 23-01, March 2023
The Levin-Rothman Plan for Altering the Justice System: A Comprehensive Analysis and Proposal for Consideration by Prof. Netta Barak-Corren, March 6, 2023
Legal Framing and Lawfare in the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict by Steven E. Zipperstein, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs 16:3, 330-349, February 28, 2023
Understanding Israeli Judicial Reforms: A Debate between MK Simcha Rothman and Prof. Yaniv Roznai, presented by The Tikvah Fund and Jewish Journal, February 22, 2023 (Video, 1:04’)
Why does Israel’s gov’t think the Supreme Court is too powerful? by David M. Weinberg, The Jerusalem Post, January 26, 2023
Returning Israel’s Supreme Court to the pre-Aharon Barak juridical culture of restraint is a necessary process.
He Who Grabs Too Much May Lose Everything by Yonoson Rosenblum, Mishpacha, January 24, 2023
How 3 decades of Deri’s legal troubles now see Israeli judicial independence at risk by Haviv Rettig Gur, The Times of Israel, January 20, 2023
It was the Shas leader’s corruption imbroglio in 1993 that helped launch the right’s war on judicial activism, a war that now stands to cripple the courts
Judicial Reform is Reasonable and Right by David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom, January 17, 2023
The reform of Israel’s legal system – proposed by Justice Minister Yair Levin – does not only not threaten democracy, but is reasonable and necessary as it will restore the balance of power between the judiciary, legislature and government.
Battle over High Court exposes frailty of Israel’s piecemeal system of government by Haviv Rettig Gur, The Times of Israel, January 11, 2023
The center-left’s fears are reasonable, the right’s arguments authentic; both sides should get past the current shrill debate and restructure a broken system of checks and balances
Israel’s Judicial Reform Will Strengthen Its Democracy by Avi Bell, Newsweek, January 9, 2023
Israel: Constitutional Revolution Without a Constitution by Chaim Lax, HonestReporting, June 19, 2022
Audio: Unpacking Israel and International Law (1:00’) with Eugene Kontorovich, Creative Community for Peace, April 27, 2022 (Apple Podcasts, Spotify)
How not to make the case for Palestinian statehood by Steven E. Zipperstein, The Times of Israel, January 9, 2022
With a long history of rejecting offers, making a legal case for sovereignty is a losing battle. The conflict isn’t a legal dispute, it’s an inherently political one
Video: Eugene Kontorovich: The International Community Never Cared about the Arabs (50’23”), Jewish News Service, January 4, 2022
Legal scholar Eugene Kontorovich joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to discuss the way international law is used to delegitimize Israel and Jewish rights in Jerusalem and the land of Israel.
Following the law is not a disadvantage by Yossi Kuperwasser, Israel Hayom, January 3, 2022
While Israel is held to an international double standard of morality, the IDF’s commitment to the international laws of war is a long-term advantage.
Are the Palestinians Changing their Legal Tactics in the International Courts? By Amb. Alan Baker and Lea Bilke, The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Briefs Vol 21, No. 21, October 27, 2021
Does the third Geneva Convention apply to the Palestinian terrorists arrested by Israel? by Maurice Hirsch, Adv., Palestinian Media Watch, October 18, 2021
Legal Analysis of Ben & Jerry’s Boycott Decision, International Legal Forum for Israel, August 5, 2021
Seminar Series: Israel and International Law with Dr. Eugene Kontorovich, The Tikvah Fund, July 2021
- Session I: Israel’s Borders in International Law [video] [handout]
- Session II: The Legal Status of Judea & Samaria Communities [video] [handout]
- Session II: Recent Legal Blood Libels [video] [handout]
The Legal War: Hamas’ War Crimes and Israel’s Right to Self-Defense by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Viewpoints No. 643, June 3, 2021
‘There’s no such thing as occupied Palestinian land,’ legalist says by Amnon Lord, Israel Hayom, April 29, 2021
Renowned international law expert Dr. Jacques Gauthier thinks Israelis are not as aware of their historical rights to the land as they should be.
Refuting the Palestinian Allegation to the ICC that Israeli Settlements Are a War Crime by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Briefs, Vol. 21 No. 2, April 29, 2021
12 legislative landmines on Biden’s path to restoring US-PLO ties by Bishara A. Bahbah, The Times of Israel, February 11, 2021
Decades of laws and temporary waivers pose an obstacle to a constructive US working relationship with the representatives of the Palestinian people.
New York court rules against Students for Justice in Palestine in Fordham case by Melissa Weiss, Jewish Insider, December 23, 2020 (see also: Appeals court overturns ruling forcing Fordham University to recognize SJP chapter, Jewish News Syndicate, December 22, 2020)
The decision overturned a 2019 ruling that forced Fordham University to recognize the group as an official campus organization
Legitimizing Terrorists by Zoom by Cliff Smith, Providence: The Institute on Religion and Democracy, December 15, 2020
Video (3’30”): Jason Greenblatt and Christophe Farnaud discuss international law regarding Israel’s presence in the West Bank, European Leadership Network (ELNET), July 2, 2020
How Many Laws Were Struck Down by the Supreme Court in Israel? by Dr. Amir Fuchs, The Israel Democracy Institute, June 22, 2020
With calls to enact an ‘override clause’ to push back against judicial review back in the news, Dr. Amir Fuchs analyzed the twenty laws the Court has overturned since Israel’s establishment.
Rule or Ruse of Law in the International Criminal Court? by Prof. Gregory Rose and Maurice Hirsch, Australian Institute of International Affairs, Australian Outlook, May 6, 2020
Israel’s unity government may prove a constitutional time bomb by Evelyn Gordon, Jewish News Syndicate, April 29, 2020
State of Jurisdiction: The International Criminal Court and the ‘Situation in Palestine’ by Alexander Loengarov, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, PolicyWatch #3305, April 24, 2020
The question of whether the ICC is able to proceed with cases against Israeli and Palestinian officials may hinge on fuzzy international legal criteria and competing arguments by sympathetic governments.
Israel’s constitutional crisis has been postponed, not resolved by Evelyn Gordon, Jewish News Syndicate, April 1, 2020
The High Court of Justice effectively seized control of another branch of government, in flagrant violation of legislation that the court itself deems constitutional. Once the coronavirus crisis ends, a full-blown court-Knesset war will be unavoidable.
How the ICC is encouraging greater civilian casualties by Evelyn Gordon, Jewish News Syndicate, March 18, 2020
By prosecuting Israel, the International Criminal Court has essentially said there’s no point even trying to uphold the laws of war because as the court interprets them, they are incompatible with self-defense.
US policy on the legal status of Israel’s West Bank settlements by Douglas J. Feith, Jewish News Syndicate, January 27, 2020
What the current administration did by its announcement reinforced two messages: that America is closely attached to Israel, and that the historical connection of Israel with the land is strong and significant.
Political Games at The Hague by Gerald M. Steinberg, Israel Hayom, December 26, 2019
There are no judges in The Hague by Avi Bell, Israel Hayom, December 24, 2019
As long as Israel continues to treat the ICC as an entity operating with good intentions, rather than under a biased political and diplomatic agenda, it will continue to lose its fights.
Legalizing politics and politicizing the law by Evelyn Gordon, Jewish News Syndicate, November 27, 2019
There’s a straight line connecting leftists’ rejection of the settlements’ legality with rightists’ rejection of the indictments against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
The Myth of ‘Occupied Palestine’ by Matthew Mainen, Jewish News Syndicate, November 21, 2019
Not Illegal by Nevet Basker, The Times of Israel, December 2, 2019
Israel’s Rights in the West Bank under International Law by Alan Baker, Tablet, November 18, 2019 (see also: The Legality of Israel’s Settlements: Flaws in the Carter-Era Hansell Memorandum by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief Vol. 19, No. 20, November 21, 2019)
Understanding law and justice in the world’s most disputed territories
No partner in The Hague by Avi Bell, Israel Hayom, August 23, 2019
Israel’s relations with the International Criminal Court are guided by a failed strategy that views it as a legitimate institution. The US has a superior strategy based on an understanding that the ICC is a hostile political organization.
The Many Incoherences and Hypocrisies of International Law on Jerusalem by Eugene Kontorovich, Mosaic, July 15, 2019
There’s a quadruple standard at work: a double standard within a double standard.
The Flawed Human Rights Watch Report on Gaza by Geoffrey S. Corn, Rachel E. VanLandingham, Lawfare Blog, June 26, 2019
Israel’s drive for legal reform won’t disappear when Netanyahu does by Evelyn Gordon, Jewish News Syndicate, June 5, 2019
Too many legislators and voters have seen policies they cared about nixed merely because unelected justices or an unelected attorney general decided to substitute their own policy judgments for those of the elected government.
By recognizing the Golan, Trump revives the idea that aggression shouldn’t be cost-free by Evelyn Gordon, Jewish News Syndicate, March 27, 2019
International law used to distinguish between offensive and defensive wars. But modern interpretations have eliminated this distinction, and thereby ended up rewarding aggression.
Framing Israel: The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on the Spring 2018 Gaza Border Confrontations by Geoffrey S. Corn and Peter Margulies, Lawfare Blog, March 18, 2019
In Gaza, Israel Is Complying With the Law of Armed Conflict While Hamas Exploits It by John Toolan, Morning Consult, March 4, 2019
Video: 6 Facts That You Need to Know About Israel’s Legal Rights (2’49”), Im Tirzu, January 13, 2019
Enough with the Hysterics, Anti-BDS Laws Are Perfectly Constitutional by Ron Machol, Forward, January 10, 2019
Everyone is Misreporting the Texas BDS Lawsuit by David E. Bernstein, The Volokh Conspiracy, December 18, 2018
No, a Texas school district did not require speech pathologist Bahia Amawi to sign a “pro-Israel pledge,” nor even to promise not to personally boycott Israel.
Is ‘East Jerusalem’ Palestinian Territory? by Avi Bell, The Times of Israel, December 16, 2018
What country has legal sovereignty over Jerusalem?
‘International consensus’ on Jerusalem is baseless by Eldad Beck, Israel Hayom, November 30, 2018
ICC Takes Anti-Israel Bias to New Heights by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, November 28, 2018 (see also The International Criminal Court’s fundamental flaw by Evelyn Gordon, Jewish News Syndicate, October 10, 2018)
Israel’s Next Northern War: Operational and Legal Challenges, Hybrid Warfare Task Force, The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, October 2018 (see also: Israel’s Next Northern War: Operational and Legal Challenges by Gen Michael Hostage, USAF (ret.) and Professor Geoffrey Corn, RealClear Defense, November 3, 2018)
Amid the looming backdrop of Israel’s next, unprecedentedly destructive, armed conflict with Hezbollah and potentially other adversaries including Iran, this new report from JINSA’s Hybrid Warfare Task Force examines how Israeli military operations will comply with the law of armed conflict (LOAC) even as Hezbollah intentionally exploits the same laws to stymie and delegitimize Israel’s self-defense operations.
ICC’s anti-Israel bias shows America is right to shun it by Evelyn Gordon, Jewish News Syndicate, September 26, 2018
A court that’s biased against one country can’t be trusted to eschew bias against others.
Laws of Armed Conflict in Gaza by John Toolan, RealClearDefense, August 14, 2018
Critics of nation-state law misunderstand Israel’s constitutional system by Evelyn Gordon, Jewish News Syndicate, August 1, 2018
The new law isn’t meant to be read in isolation, but in concert with other Basic Laws enshrining Israel’s democratic system and fundamental human rights.
European Court of Human Rights Rulings Indicate No “Right of Return” and That Gaza Isn’t Occupied by Bennett Ruda, Daled Amos, July 24, 2018
Israel on Trial: How International Law is Being Misused to Delegitimize the State of Israel by Matthijs de Blois and Andrew Tucker
Hypocrisy and hysteria by David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom, July 13, 2018 [on Israel’s proposed “nation-state” bill]
The Many Ways Palestinians Violate International Law by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief Vol. 18, No. 18, June 18, 2018
Israeli group seeks ICC action against Hamas for using children as human shields by Yair Altman, Jewish News Syndicate, April 25, 2018
Shurat Hadin Israel Law Center names three senior Hamas figures as war criminals, says Hamas should be made to answer in International Criminal Court; Case based on Rome Statute clause stating recruiting children under 15 to militant groups is war crime.
What Does the ICRC Say About Civilians Rioting in Support of a Military Objective? by Bennett Ruda, Daled Amos, April 25, 2018
The Status of Jerusalem in International and Israeli Law by Shmuel Berkowitz, The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, April 2018
Video: Asserting Israel’s Legal Rights to the Golan Heights (4’42”), Dore Gold, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, February 19, 2018
The Hague Statement of Jurists on the Israel-Palestine Conflict, The Hague Initiative for International Cooperation, November 30, 2017
On 28th and 29th June 2017, twenty-four international lawyers and experts in the field of international law from twelve nations convened in the Peace Palace in The Hague at the invitation of The Hague Initiative for International Cooperation (thinc.) and the International Conference for Truth, Justice and Peace (ICTIP) to discuss the legal implications of UNSC Resolution 2334. They examined the extent to which this resolution and the Advisory Opinion should be considered to have resolved the long-standing dispute about sovereignty in these territories. [Participants] investigated the interpretation and use of international law by the UNSC and ICJ, and examined the role that international law plays and should play in facilitating a peaceful resolution of the Israel-Palestine dispute.
The Red Cross Destroys the Laws of War by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, November 14, 2017
The warped bias of anti-Israel boycotts by Paul Miller, The Washington Times, October 26, 2017
Why anti-boycott, divestment and sanctions laws are moral and constitutional
Anti-boycott laws: Solid despite the wrinkles by Jacob Millner, The Times of Israel, October 23, 2017
Hijacking the Laws of Occupation by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Viewpoints No. 613, September 2017
If It Is Not There – It Does Not Exist by Abigail, Legal Forum for Israel, June 19, 2017
San Francisco State University Accused of Pervasive Anti-Semitism in Groundbreaking Federal Lawsuit Filed by Students and Members of the Jewish Community, The Lawfare Project, June 19, 2017
Jewish Law Day Analyzed BDS Within Legal Scope by Rachel Kurland, Jewish Exponent, April 13, 2017
Prof. Eugene Kontorovich on BDS “movement” and academic boycotts
Getting International Law Right on the Next Gaza War by Jamie Palmer, The Tower Issue #48, March 2017
International Legal Expert: Widespread Global Criticism of Settlement ‘Regulation Law’ Passed by Knesset Is Unwarranted by Barney Breen-Portnoy, The Algemeiner, February 9, 2017 (see also Israel’s Settlement Regulations Bill and International Law by Eugene Kontorovich, Just Security, December 20, 2016)
Close Settlement on the Land by Eugene Rostow, Jewish Policy Center: Part I, Part II, Part III (reprinted January 2017)
The BDS Movement: That Which We Call a Foreign Boycott, by Any Other Name, Is Still Illegal by Marc A. Greendorfer, Zachor Legal Institute, Roger Williams University Law Review, Vol. 22 No. 1, Winter 2017
Disorder in the Court by Evelyn Gordon, Mosaic, December 5, 2016 (a review of The Purse and the Sword: The Trials of Israel’s Legal Revolution by Daniel Friedmann, and the politics of Israel’s Supreme Court)
Audio: Northwestern Law Professor Challenges Israel Boycott State By State (Interview with Eugene Kontorovich, 17’29”), WBEZ, November 2, 2016
The Problem With Using the Tax Code to Punish Israeli Settlements by Eugene Kontorovich, Tablet, October 6, 2016
Why the push to revoke tax exemptions for groups supporting Jewish communities in the West Bank is unconstitutional
Israel’s Rights in the Territories under International Law by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, September 7, 2016 (includes video, 5’53”)
Global Study of Settlements in Occupied Territories by Eugene Kontorovich, Northwestern University Law School, Northwestern Public Law Research Paper No. 16-20, September 7, 2016
A comprehensive academic study of the application of Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention to international occupations of East Timor (by Indonesia), Western Sahara (Morocco), Northern Cyprus (Turkey), and other occupied territories.
Campus BDS and the law: First, do no harm by Ken Stern, Jewish Journal, June 21, 2016
Sorry BDS, Your Boycott Isn’t Free Speech by Daniel Pomerantz, HonestReporting.com, June 8, 2016
Video: Challenging Anti-Israel BDS in American Courts (55’28”, relevant portion starts at 26’05”), Prof. Steven Resnicoff and Brooke Goldstein, Torah Café, June 8, 2016
Just Warfare Entails Risk; Movie ‘Eye In The Sky’ Perverts Just War Laws by David Deptula and Joseph Raskas, Breaking Defense, May 16, 2016
Israel and “Palestine”: What International Law Requires by Louis René Beres, Gatestone Institute, May 12, 2016
Anti-Semitism and junk Constitutional law by Mark G. Yudof, The Times of Israel, April 1, 2016
Holding Disruptors Accountable by Yael Lerman Mazar, The Times of Israel, March 3, 2016
Are There Double Standards in Israel’s Application of the Rule of Law in the Territories? by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, January 21, 2016
The ICC declares war on Israel by Avi Bell, The Times of Israel, July 16, 2015
Destroying International Law by Tying the West’s Hands by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, June 26, 2015
European Court Decides that Israel Is Not Occupying Gaza by Marko Milanovic, EJIL: Talk!, June 17, 2015
Attorneys at War: Inside an elite Israeli military law unit by Willy Stern, The Weekly Standard, June 5, 2015
Business with occupied territories, Orange telecom, and the French approach to international law by Eugene Kontorovich , The Washington Post, June 4, 2015
A Legal and Operational Assessment of Israel’s Targeting Practices by Michael Schmitt and John Merriam, Just Security, April 24, 2015
Video: Israel’s Legal Founding (5’23”), Prof. Alan Dershowitz, Prager University, February 23, 2015
Battling Islamic Terror in the Courts by Paul Alster, The Jerusalem Report, February 23, 2015
Lawyer Nitsana Darshan-Leitner directs her campaign on behalf of the victims of terror at those who bankroll the perpetrators
The Palestinian Authority’s International Criminal Court Gambit: A True Partner for Peace? by Jonathan Schanzer, Congressional Testimony, House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, February 4, 2015
The Case Against the International Criminal Court Investigating Israel by Alan M. Dershowitz, Gatestone Institute, January 23, 2015
New study of UN Resolution 242 could alter views of Israeli-Arab conflict by Yonah Jeremy Bob, Jerusalem Post, January 1, 2015
Five legal puzzles about occupation and settlements by Eugene Kontorovich, Washington Post, December 17, 2014
A Palestinian ICC gambit would reach far beyond parties to the conflict by Eugene Kontorovich, Washington Post, November 24, 2014
“When Gravity Fails”: my new article on Israel and the ICC by Eugene Kontorovich, The Washington Post, November 14, 2014
Everything You Need to Know about International Law and the Gaza War by David Daoud, The Tower Issue #18, September 2014
At last: Your comprehensive guide to the laws of armed conflict as they apply to Operation Protective Edge
Hamas’s Violations of International Law, The Lawfare Project, September 2014
Fighting terrorism under the rule of law by Alan M. Dershowitz, Boston Globe, September 14-18, 2014: A 5-part series (Human Shields, Sept. 14; Surveillance, Sept. 15; Terrorist detentions, Sept. 16; Targeted killings, Sept. 17; and Justified torture, Sept. 18)
Has Hamas Overplayed Its Lawfare Strategy? by Charles J. Dunlap, Jr., Just Security, August 5, 2014
Effective Control and Accepting ICC Jurisdiction by Eugene Kontorovich, Opinio Juris, August 4, 2014
The Latest Hamas-Israel Confrontation — Some Pertinent Legal Points by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Viewpoints No. 602, July 24, 2014
Questions of legal warfare by Ido Rosenzweig, Times of Israel, July 13, 2014
Getting the law right on the Israel-Hamas conflict by Laurie R. Blank, The Hill, July 11, 2014
Israeli Settlements Are Not Illegal by Michael Curtis, American Thinker, July 9, 2014
Boycotts, Divestment, Sanctions and the Law by Jonathan Turner and Anne Herzberg, Justice Magazine, Issue 54, July 7, 2014
The Early Roots of Anti-Israel Lawfare by Andrew Harrod, FrontPage Magazine, June 24, 2014
Crimea, International Law, and the West Bank by Eugene Kontorovich, Commentary, June 1, 2014
“Apartheid”? Blame the Geneva Convention by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, May 8, 2014
Terrorism Claims Over ‘Occupied Palestine’ Fail by Elizabeth Warmerdam, Courthouse News Service, May 7, 2014
Israel’s boycott law passes the U.S. test by Eugene Kontorovich, Times of Israel, April 25, 2014
Video: Melanie Phillips: “Hijacking Human Rights Law” (56’34”), The Lawfare Project, March 20, 2014
The European war on Israel’s courts by Anne Herzberg, Jerusalem Post, March 1, 2014 (full report: Exploiting Justice: How the UK, EU, & Norway Fund NGO Lawfare vs. Israel, NGO Monitor, February 20, 2014)
Challenging the Long-Held Notion That Israeli Settlements Are ‘Illegal’ by Sharona Schwartz, The Blaze, February 24, 2014
The Woman Who Makes the Jihadis Squirm by David Hazony, The Tower, February 2014
Inappropriate Use of the Fourth Geneva Convention: Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War Does Not Effect Jewish Rights to the Land of Israel by Eli E. Hertz, Myths and Facts, January 22, 2014
The legal case for Judea and Samaria by Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom, December 13, 2013
“For years, the world has regarded Judea and Samaria as Palestinian territory illegally occupied by Israel. But now a group of hundreds of jurists from Israel and abroad is fighting back in the battle for the historical and legal truth.”
International law and Judea and Samaria: It’s time to return to the facts by Yair Shamir, Jerusalem Post, November 24, 2013
Inappropriate Use of the Fourth Geneva Convention: Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War by Eli E. Hertz, Myths and Facts, November 15, 2013
Targeted killing and the law – who is a legitimate target and when is the target legitimate? by Amos Guiora, Foreign Policy Research Institute, November 2013
The complex legality of settlements by Peter Wertheim, The Jerusalem Report, September 15, 2013
The Palestinian Wrong Of Return: Demystifying the Legal Basis of the “Right of Return” and Analysing “Refugee” Numbers by Cliff Pinto, Times of Israel, August 2, 2013
M
anipulating International Law as Part of Anti-Israeli “Lawfare” by Robbie Sabel, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief Vol. 13, No. 16, June 2, 2013
Jurisdiction over Israeli Settlement Activity in the International Criminal Court by Eugene Kontorovich, Northwestern Law & Econ Research Paper No. 13-10, March 9, 2013 [see also video, The Legal Case for Israel (45’57″), November 2012]
Israeli Settlements’ Legal Basis by Alan Baker, USA Today, January 23, 2013 (see also Settlements: Are they legal?, a compilation of analyses and source materials)
International humanitarian law, ICRC and Israel’s status in the Territories by Alan Baker, International Review of the Red Cross, Volume 94, Number 888, Winter 2012
Israel’s Legal Case: A Guidebook by Avinoam Sharon, Dore Gold, Alan Baker, Jeffrey Helmreich, Robbie Sabel, Laurence E. Rothenberg, Abraham Bell, Yehuda Z. Blum, Ruth Lapidoth , Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), 2012
This volume by recognized experts from Israel and abroad outlines Israel’s legal case on key issues of international law. As questions are raised over the legitimacy and morality of Israel’s actions, the authors in this volume see Israel’s actions as firmly rooted in international law. These scholars present well-reasoned responses to the charges of “occupation,” “apartheid,” and “colonialism.” They also discuss the legal status of Israeli settlements, the West Bank security fence, and Israel’s borders.
The law of belligerent occupation in the Supreme Court of Israel by David Kretzmer, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 94 No. 885, Spring 2012 (see also Google eBook, The International Law of Occupation by Eyal Benvenisti, Oxford University Press, February 2012)
Ethiopian Israelis, the right of return, and accusations of racism by Adam Levick, CiF Watch, October 14, 2010
Many countries provide immigration privileges to individuals with ethnic/familial ties to these countries (so-called ”leges sanguinis”). As examples: Bulgaria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Poland, Romania, S. Korea, Spain, Turkey, and Ukraine, all have citizenship laws based partly or largely on this principle – that is, a Right of Return of sorts for people determined to share a preferred common national trait. Apart from France, ”jus sanguinis” still is the preferred means of passing on citizenship in many continental European countries, with benefits of maintaining national unity (while not in any way necessarily denying equal civil rights for minorities within the country who have citizenship, but who don’t share such traits). So, in fact, Israel is not at all unique in seeking to maintain a nation unified by a citizenry who share a similar historical memory and a common sense of political & moral destiny.
European Court of Human Rights on “Right of Return” for Refugees by Shane Hensinger, International Security at the Josef Korbel School, March 16, 2010 [ruling on 1974 Greek refugees in Cyprus]
Preserving a Legal Inheritance: Jewish Settlement Rights in the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” by Gerald Adler, The Journal Online (the Law Society of Scotland), September 14, 2009
A Bitter Irony by Eugene Kontorovich, New York Sun, February 13, 2008
“[W]hatever one may think of the legal status of Jewish communities in the West Bank in general, the “unauthorized” settlements raise no issues under international law.”
Legal Rights and Title of Sovereignty of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel and Palestine under International Law by Howard Grief, NATIV Online, Vol. 2, 2004 (a longer version is a book, The Legal Foundation and Borders of Israel under International Law: A Treatise on Jewish Sovereignty over the Land of Israel)
International Law and the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Julius Stone, updated 2003 [pdf]
Israeli Settlements and International Law, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, May 2001
Historical Approach to the Issue of Legality of Jewish Settlement Activity by Eugene W. Rostow, The New Republic, April 23, 1990
The Jewish right of settlement in the West Bank is conferred by the same provisions of the Mandate under which Jews settled in Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem before the State of Israel was created. [….] Many believe that the Palestine Mandate was somehow terminated in 1947, when the British government resigned as the mandatory power. This is incorrect. A trust never terminates when a trustee dies, resigns, embezzles the trust property, or is dismissed. [….] The controversy about Jewish settlements in the West Bank is not, therefore, about legal rights but about the political will to override legal rights.
Can Arabs Buy Land in Israel? by Alexander Safian, Middle East Quarterly, December 1997
What Weight to Conquest? by Stephen M. Schwebel (Excerpts from article first published in American Journal of International Law (1970), 64)