On Target? The Israeli Supreme Court and the Expansion of Targeted Killings

9 Pages Posted: 22 Jun 2008

See all articles by Kristen Eichensehr

Kristen Eichensehr

University of Virginia School of Law

Date Written: June 20, 2008

Abstract

After four years of consideration, the Israeli Supreme Court recently issued the world's first judicial decision on targeted killings in Public Committee Against Torture in Israel v. Government of Israel (PCATI). In PCATI, the court held that terrorists are civilians under the law of armed conflict and thus are lawfully subject to attack only when they directly participate in hostilities. But the court also expanded the traditional definition of direct participation and the time period during which civilians may lawfully be attacked. By disregarding the direct participation requirement's important evidentiary function, the court weakened the protections that international law affords to all civilians, not just to terrorists.

Keywords: Targeted killings, direct participation, PCATI, Israel

Suggested Citation

Eichensehr, Kristen, On Target? The Israeli Supreme Court and the Expansion of Targeted Killings (June 20, 2008). Yale Law Journal, Vol. 116, No. 8, 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1148841

Kristen Eichensehr (Contact Author)

University of Virginia School of Law ( email )

580 Massie Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
501
Abstract Views
2,384
Rank
103,815
PlumX Metrics