Attorneys at War: Inside an Elite Israeli Military Law Unit

"[T]he IDF's international law department [is] essentially the best little niche law firm you've never heard of. These distinguished attorneys carry assault rifles, get shot at frequently, and sit at the cutting edge of the law of armed conflict. The unit goes by 'Dabla,' the acronym for the Hebrew name of the international law department; Dabla, in turn, sits inside Israel's equivalent of the U.S. Army's Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps...

But to understand Dabla is to understand the insanity of the avalanche of criticism raining down on Israel for the way its military fights...

Here are just some of the steps and warnings designed to prevent civilian casualties that might take place before missiles start flying: The IDF may, variously, gather detailed intelligence on who lives in the building; call or text those who reside in a particular building with a warning that a strike is coming; drop Arabic-language leaflets over the area warning residents; fly a drone with sophisticated surveillance cameras overhead, as an extra set of eyes to make sure the civilians have vacated; drop a small charge on the roof which shakes the building, as a final warning signal that a strike is coming; and employ a highly precise and carefully chosen weapon system which, IDF lawyers and commanders hope, would destroy only the weapons cache but not surrounding rooms.

Talk about signaling your intentions to the enemy. How can any military win a war when it decides to fight this way? No matter. That is how Israel chooses to fight...

But here's the kicker: Although most strikes were carried out without harm to innocent bystanders, IDF field commanders nixed other approved strikes in Gaza, despite these multiple layers of precautions to prevent civilian casualties. Why? 'There is no symmetry in international law,' says Lt. Col. Robert Noyfield, the Dabla attorney in charge of targeting. 'We do it out of moral obligation; we do it for ourselves. We are a democratic country that abides by the rule of law. By doing so, of course, we also hope to avoid criticism from the international community. How can we be faulted when abiding by the law?'

But faulted they are, despite going far beyond what international law requires, in ways that are surprising and maybe a bit meshugge. This scribe has spent time downrange in Iraq and Afghanistan with U.S. troops, who are known to chafe under rules of engagement propounded in part by our own Pentagon lawyers. But after two weeks embedded with the Dabla attorneys and meeting with front-line commanders, including drone pilots, tank drivers, paratroopers, and infantry soldiers, it's hard not to be a tad taken aback by the IDF's legal zeal...

For better or worse, combat commanders and Dabla attorneys will bend over backwards to prevent civilian casualties. The concept is simply deeply embedded into the IDF culture."