In this mid-year issue of the Israel Law Review we are proud to present three articles and two book reviews. They cover a range of topics – information operations, targeted killing in armed conflict, and Nazi criminology – and yet these articles demonstrate recurring themes in current scholarship: the rising significance of cyber activities, whether for interference in foreign politics or for espionage; legitimate conduct in armed conflicts; and the continuing importance of studying the impact of Nazism on legal scholarship.
In ‘Information Operations and the Question of Illegitimate Interference under International Law’, Henning Lahmann examines the legal qualification of state-led information operations that aim to undermine democratic decision-making processes in other states. The article assesses scholarly responses to paradigm shift regarding the prohibition of intervention, respect for sovereignty and the principle of self-determination that follow cyber activities. It argues that it is not yet possible to infer from state practice a customary international rule restricting such foreign interference. As a possible way forward, the article proposes to focus on deceptive and manipulative conduct in information operations rather than on information content in order to safeguard freedom of speech and other potentially affected civil rights.
‘Israeli Compliance with Legal Guidelines for Targeted Killing’, by Shahaf Rabi and Avery Plaw, examines Israel's compliance with the 2006 ruling of the High Court of Justice regarding targeted killing operations. The article presents strong evidence that Israel complies with the four requirements prescribed by the Court, although there is insufficient information to arrive at a definitive conclusion regarding compliance with the principle of proportionality. The evidence also casts doubt on Israel's compliance with the two safeguards – of an independent ex post facto investigation of operations that cause civilian casualties, and of judicial oversight.
In ‘Nazi Criminology: Continuity and Radicalisation’ Kai Ambos argues that Nazi criminal law neither emerged from a vacuum, as Anglo-American academic discourse suggests, nor did it disappear after 1945. Rather, Nazi criminal law adopted and exacerbated earlier authoritarian tendencies of German criminal law. This continuity and radicalisation also featured in German Nazi criminology, which ultimately became a legitimating science (Legitimationswissenschaft) for Nazi criminal justice policy. The article maintains that in current German politics the disturbing approach of the (German) ‘New Right’ to criminal justice is not novel but derives from the ideologically infused theories and policies of Nazi criminologists during the 1930s.
This issue ends with two book reviews. Izhak Englard reviews Hans Kelsen in Seiner Zeit [Hans Kelsen in His Time], edited by Clemens Jabloner, Thomas Olechowski and Klaus Zeleny (MANZ'sche Verlags- und Universitätsbuchhandlung, 2019). Marco Longobardo reviews Cyber Espionage and International Law by Russell Buchan (Hart Publishing, 2018).
We wish you all the best of health and an interesting and fruitful read.
