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I see a lot of talk on whether Palestinians are "evil", whether they "deserve" this or that outcome. these are good questions and important for people to think about in private - especially Palestinians themselves but they are just not really relevant as far as war is concerned
the goal of every Israeli general must be to achieve the best security outcomes for Israel under the constraint of international law and the spirit behind it — whether the reduction in the enemy's ability to harm Israelis is worth the collateral risk https://t.co/1QACr6XGJC
harm to civilians that serves no security benefit, rape or wanton cruelty being obvious examples, is prohibited by both international law and Israeli law *even if given an order to do so* this rule is extremely clear and has no clause for "but if they really deserve it then..."
so yes, we did learn something from the Nazis. the IDF code was specifically written to prevent "just following orders" being a justification, and this code is drilled into every soldier from their first day in boot camp (as I imagine it is in the US and most places)
different Israelis have their own moral judgments on this, but I think very few of us, secular or religious, use "justice" as the main framework. deontology, VE, and utilitarianism all easily agree that indiscriminate bombing of civilians is horrible even if they're "bad" people
what about Jewish morality? we have a little story in our book that is quite relevant here arguing with God is almost always frowned upon UNLESS you are arguing for mercy. this is Abraham's finest moment, and he is rewarded for it with riches and a son in the next two chapters https://t.co/EXHcL6ytmQ
