Doomed to Be Violated? The U.S.-Israeli Clandestine End-User Agreement and the Second Lebanon War: Lessons for the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Abstract:     
Israel’s extensive cluster munitions (CMs) use in the 2006 Second Lebanon War served as a major impetus for the 2008 Convention on CMs (CCM). It also led to an extensive U.S.-Israeli diplomatic entanglement over Israel’s supposed violations of U.S. legislation, specifically the 1976 classified Bilateral End-User Agreement detailing Israel’s use of U.S.-made CMs. The Article first tracks the Agreement’s inception and the diplomatic crises caused by Israel’s alleged breach since then. The second section provides a detail account of the 2006 crisis while the third analyzes if U.S. legislation was violated. The Article concludes, using a flexible interpretation, that in effect U.S. legislation was not violated and argues that given its out-dated stipulations the Agreement was doomed to be violated under a formal interpretation. More importantly, given the restrictions imposed on Israel by the Agreement, this case provides a unique opportunity to assess the rationale behind the refusal of CCM supporters to accept anything but a total ban on CMs.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 51

Keywords: cluster munitions, Second Lebanon War, Israel, End-User Agreement, U.S.

Accepted Paper Series