Israel formally codified combatant-immunity doctrine first developed in the 1990s

Evidence

The doctrine was elaborated by Israel: “When senior Israeli Defense Forces [IDF] officers are asked about the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians during the fighting in the Gaza strip, they almost all give the same answer: The use of massive force was designed to protect the lives of the soldiers, and when faced with a choice between protecting the lives of Israeli soldiers and those of enemy civilians … , the soldiers take precedence.” That response was by no means merely improvised but was based on “an ethical theory, developed several years ago, that justifies its actions.” What’s the use of moral philosophy? Among other things, it facilitates the waging of war. — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 437 (#expands, via linked claim)

In 2001, U.S. secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld had become convinced that “the techniques used by the Israelis against the Palestinians could quite simply be deployed on a larger scale.” What he had in mind was Israel’s programs of “targeted assassinations,” the existence of which had recently been recognized by the Israeli leadership. As Eyal Weizman explains, the occupied territories had become “the world’s largest laboratory for airborne thanatotactics,” so it was not surprising that they would eventually be exported. — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 165 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A sui generis principle of imperial-combatant immunity emerged above the law of armed conflict; Israel formalized the doctrine that protecting Israeli soldiers outranks enemy civilians. — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 437; US drone doctrine was directly sourced from Israeli targeted assassination practice — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 165

Related

• Israel formalized the doctrine that protecting Israeli soldiers outranks enemy civilians. (similarity 0.93)
• US drone doctrine was directly sourced from Israeli targeted assassination practice (similarity 0.90)
• A sui generis principle of imperial-combatant immunity emerged above the law of armed conflict (similarity 0.86)
• US drone assassination techniques were directly exported from Israeli practice in Palestine (similarity 0.84)
• Combattant immunity for one’s own soldiers replaced non-combatant immunity as the top norm. (similarity 0.80)
• Soldiers’ lives were redefined as citizens deserving protection above enemy civilians. (similarity 0.79)
• Combatant immunity emerged as a de facto norm alien to just war law (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Israel formalized the doctrine that protecting Israeli soldiers outranks enemy civilians. #expands (0.80) — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 437
• US drone doctrine was directly sourced from Israeli targeted assassination practice #expands (0.60) — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 165