Israeli minister: 'the laws concerning warfare must be changed'

Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan demanded a change in the international laws of warfare on Tuesday, reported The Jerusalem Post.

Speaking at a conference organised by lawfare organisation Shurat HaDin, Erdan reiterated familiar Israeli claims that “terrorists” are exploiting international law “to destabilize the ability of democracies to defend their citizens”.

“The laws concerning warfare must be changed”, he said. “We can’t accept a situation in which international law serves terrorists”.

The minister – who also heads the battle against the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign – claimed that democracies are being “forced to fight against terrorists with their hand chained behind their backs”.

Erdan additionally attacked the United Nations for “allowing terrorist groups to be active and even legitimising them”, in a reference to Lebanon and meetings with Hezbollah officials.

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Israel, Lebanon tensions at the border – Cartoon [Latuff/MiddleEastMonitor]

Shurat HaDin head Nitsana Darshan-Leitner later told The Jerusalem Post that the issue is not changing international law, but how it is interpreted.

“The discourse about international law should be changed”, she said. “It is impossible that democracies will be subjected to international law and honour it, and terrorist groups will not”.