Ask the Rabbis | Are There War Crimes According to Jewish Thought, And If So, What Are They?

INDEPENDENT

Two that come to mind are attributed to the first anointed king of Israel, Shaul (Saul). When he lost the throne to David for failing to execute the ruler of the Amalekites, he was unable to give it up and deemed David a personal threat. In Shaul’s subsequent pursuit of David, he ended up ordering his Edomite mercenaries to wipe out an entire village of fellow Jews—men, women and children—for the crime of having harbored David (First Samuel, Ch. 22). In his misplaced zeal, Shaul also massacred a village of Gibeonites in spite of a treaty that Joshua had enacted with them centuries earlier (Joshua, Ch. 9). Consequently, the Land of Israel was subjected to a major famine (Second Samuel, Ch. 21).
Rabbi Gershon Winkler
Walking Stick Foundation
Golden, CO

HUMANIST

The short answer is yes. A variety of traditional Jewish sources forbid warfare targeting noncombatants, destroying property unnecessarily, and engaging in unrestrained cruelty. These prohibitions generally align with what we today call war crimes. They are a reminder that war must be conducted ethically and with respect for human dignity. It is an idea that resonates in modern Israeli military doctrine as tohar ha-neshek, the “purity of arms.”

Yet ancient teachings are often tested by the harsh realities of modern warfare. Our rabbis never envisioned a world where terrorists exploit civilians as shields, hiding in homes, schools and hospitals while waging war. Even so, their words remain vital: They remind us to minimize harm to innocents whenever possible, even as we combat existential threats. Where a path exists to preserve innocent life without compromising necessary military objectives, Jewish tradition urges us to take it.
Rabbi Jeffrey Falick
Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Metro Detroit
Farmington Hills, MI

RENEWAL

Yes. Some of Jewish tradition’s early principles for conducting war are expressed in Torah stories. Go to war as a last resort—as Moses called for peace before attacking the Amorites. Do not target the innocent and weak—as the Amalekites did when they attacked fleeing Israelite slaves from behind. And do not go to war for personal profit. Instead, be like Abraham, who refused to profit from his victory over Sodom.

Other early principles are expressed in biblical laws. Armies must not destroy fruit trees. Soldiers may not rape captives. Commanders must grant exemptions from battle for soldiers with family commitments and compassionate objections.

If a “crime” is defined as an action against law and ethics, then profiteering, rape, destruction of food supplies, targeting noncombatants, failing to negotiate in good faith and forcing people to go to war are crimes. However, the Torah doesn’t specify penalties for these particular crimes. And there is only one Bible story in which a person is punished for breaking them: Joshua executes a soldier who disobeys orders not to loot a town. So, unfortunately, we have very little information about how seriously our early leaders took these crimes.
Rabbi Laura Duhan-Kaplan
Vancouver School of Theology
Vancouver, British Columbia

RECONSTRUCTIONIST

Genesis tells the painful and difficult story of the rape of Dinah. While others have sought to codify what constitutes a war crime, a biblical narrative can illuminate the issue’s complexities. Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, is brutally raped, kidnapped and taken hostage by Shechem, son of Hamor, prince of the land. The biblical narrator emphasizes the shock and horror of this event by commenting that Shechem “had committed an outrage in Israel…a thing not to be done” (Genesis 34:8).

Jacob’s sons rescue Dinah and kill Shechem and Hamor—as most readers would think justified. But the story takes a dark turn. Shimon and Levi, it continues, “slew all the males.” Their brothers “came upon the slain and plundered the town, because their sister had been defiled. They seized their flocks and herds and asses, all that was inside the town and outside; all their wealth, all their children, and their wives…” (Genesis 34:25-29).

In other words, Jacob’s sons not only sought justice, they also committed their own crimes. Their war was just but was carried out unjustly, tainted by revenge, collective punishment, greed and complete disregard for human life. Jacob himself condemns his sons Shimon and Levi at the time and again on his deathbed, saying that “their weapons are tools of lawlessness.” We never hear Dinah’s voice in the story and do not know what she would have said. But we are left with an uncomfortable feeling that in their just war, Shimon and Levi indeed committed war crimes. And the cries of the women they abused, along with Dinah’s cries, perhaps still reverberate through the generations.
Rabbi Caryn Broitman
Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center
Vineyard Haven, MA

REFORM

While war was never something to be approached without first seeking peace, our texts are replete with discourse about how to conduct war in Jewishly ethical ways. These ethical obligations are meant to preserve the moral character of those fighting the war as well as uphold the humanity of the enemy and of innocent bystanders.

For example, Deuteronomy 20:19 commands that one may not destroy the fruit-bearing trees surrounding a besieged city. Several commentators, some of whom lived during ancient wars, extended this prohibition to the animals, property and countryside of the enemy’s city. Maimonides, writing in the 12th century, specifies further that the prohibition extends to any wanton destruction, even of garments or clay vessels. The anonymous Sefer HaChinukh (Book of Education) in 13th-century Spain indicates that the prohibition against destroying fruit trees is meant to “teach us to love the good…distance ourselves from anything evil and destructive…to not even destroy a grain of mustard… and to feel distress by the loss and destruction.” If we are prohibited from destroying or harming nonhuman objects such as trees, animals and garments, it concludes, even more so should we avoid harming our fellow humans.
Rabbi Dr. Laura Novak Winer
Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion
Fresno, CA

CONSERVATIVE

Are there wars? Yes. Are there soldiers operating under impossible situations who will intentionally or unintentionally violate basic codes of morality? Yes. Given those two realities, there will be war crimes. The Torah clearly sets up guidelines for engaging in war, so presumably those who violate those guidelines have committed war crimes. That being said, Israel does not fight using the laws of Deuteronomy.

The Jewish people had little need for the study of war during our 2,000-year diaspora. Since 1948, however, laws related to warfare have been pertinent and relevant. I am proud that Israel maintains the tohar ha-neshek (purity of arms) code, which requires that soldiers use their weapons exclusively for the sake of the mission and “maintain their humanity even during combat.”

War crimes are nonetheless inevitable given the nature of warfare. Judaism’s strict sense of accountability, responsibility and respect for life demands proper adjudication for the guilty. Israel will need to create panels to review military failure, as it has done in the past. Without question, finding our own soldiers guilty will be painful. But only when we allow investigation can we preserve our humanity and open the door for honesty and justice.

To read more about this important subject I highly recommend Shlomo Brody’s book Ethics of Our Fighters.
Rabbi Amy S. Wallk
Temple Beth El
Springfield, MA

MODERN ORTHODOX

Some halachic authorities prioritize Jewish self-defense and military action over all other considerations. They allow an almost unrestrained set of behaviors to the Jewish army to ensure that it wins.

I prefer to focus on the tradition’s general ethical standard that every human being is an image of God. Since wars are won by killing or crushing other images of God, the tradition teaches that war will be eliminated in the Messianic age: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks… they shall learn war no more” (Isaiah 2:4). However, since the world is not yet redeemed, war to stop evil and defend life is legitimate. Wars of self-defense are considered mandatory; others where destruction may be threatened are considered optional wars or milchemet reshut. Wars without any justification are considered a sin.

War conditions are never completely controllable, but in any war, since one’s enemies are also created in the image of God, one must seek to kill as few civilians as possible. The IDF are world leaders in making every effort to avoid unnecessary casualties. Deliberate primary targeting of civilians or military action to destroy the society under attack (as terrorists do) is a war crime.

Deliberate starvation or mass killings that do not differentiate between military and civilians are war crimes. Military activities in the service of intended genocide constitute war crimes. The frequent attacks claiming that Israel and the IDF are committing war crimes are politically driven and biased claims designed to undermine or prevent Israel’s self-defense.
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg
J.J. Greenberg Institute for the Advancement of Jewish Life/Hadar
Riverdale, NY

ORTHODOX

One of the oldest examples of just-war doctrine is found in Deuteronomy, which contains commandments on how to wage war. By implication, violations of them could be considered war crimes.

Deuteronomy 20:5-7 exempts an odd assortment of people from battle: They’re told by the high priest to go back if they have built a house but not inaugurated it, planted a vineyard but not harvested it, or betrothed a wife but not married her. There’s another strange requirement: When you’re equipping your soldiers, don’t forget a trowel (Deuteronomy 23:14) to cover your leavings when you’re using a field latrine.

The German Orthodox leader Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) finds a theme connecting these commandments: The Torah, he says, is looking to ensure that war is not about victory, power or triumph, but ultimately about the well-being of individuals, even individuals who are otherwise battle-ready. War tends to brutalize people. Some even argue that men like war because it allows them to belch and eat with their fingers and generally act on their animal instincts, and that, says Hirsch, is precisely what the Torah doesn’t want war to become—an arena in which the lower aspects of man are given free rein. The higher nature of man has to be carried into battle. So one might say that Deuteronomy’s definition of a war crime is to wage war in such a way that the higher nature of man is not sustained and carried with the soldier.
Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein
Cross-Currents
Los Angeles, CA /Jerusalem

SEPHARDIC

A superficial reading of the Torah might leave one with the impression that Judaism sanctions certain actions that today would be unanimously considered war crimes. The Torah commands the Israelites to annihilate nations, it allows soldiers to take captives, and it does not seem to forbid those soldiers from violating captive women. This starkly contradicts modern halachic authorities and the moral guidelines of the IDF, put together by a team of civil law and halacha experts. Several years ago a survey was conducted among Israeli halachic authorities to see if they would support collective punishment. They all responded negatively, including the most hawkish and right-leaning.

How can we explain the contradiction? The Torah laws regarding war should be understood in the context of the times and the surrounding cultures. Some were meant as a compromise and a training method until the Israelites would learn to behave better (as Maimonides argued about sacrifices). Maybe the Torah spoke of total annihilation of enemies because otherwise the nation would not have survived, but even in biblical times King Saul disobeyed the commandment to annihilate Amalek. A careful reading of the law of the captive woman (Deuteronomy 21:10-14) suggests the Torah is mitigating contemporary practices: The soldier is told to treat the captive woman humanely and allow her to mourn her family before marrying her.

I think Judaism today would consider harming civilians and treating captured enemy soldiers inhumanely to be war crimes. Those are of course broad categories, and legal and halachic experts should be constantly consulted.
Rabbi Haim Ovadia
Torah VeAhava
Potomac, MD

CHABAD

I don’t like the term “war crimes,” because it’s misused today, especially by enemies of the Jews. It’s better to talk about standards. There’s a body of Torah literature on this that goes back thousands of years. One fundamental premise is that all of Judaism is driven by kindness and love. War is always the last resort, as in self-defense, when your enemy threatens and poses danger, without any hope for a peaceful negotiation or cooperation. In that situation war becomes the only viable way to bring peace. In Genesis, when Jacob is about to confront his twin brother Esau, he prays to God; he prepares a gift to appease Esau; and he readies for war. In the end, the first two forms of preparation suffice.

When you do go to war, there are very strict rules of engagement. For instance, if you surround the city of your enemy, you must always leave a “back door” to allow them to escape. Why? Because war is not an end in itself; the enemy should always have the choice to stop the war, even if by running away. This is something few people know. Not that people don’t do wrong things sometimes, but this is the standard laid down by Jewish thought.

Let’s say your enemy is surrounding itself with civilians. Is it a war crime to kill them to get to your enemy? Actually, it’s the enemy that is perpetrating the war crime by using civilians as human shields. Obviously, we must do whatever we can to extract those innocent people from the war arena. War is war, so we can’t just say anyone innocent who dies is a victim of a war crime. It’s case by case, but driven by an overall attitude of reverence for the sanctity of life, even your enemy’s. Maimonides says that “the entire Torah came to bring peace to the world.” Proverbs 24:17 says, when your enemy falls, don’t celebrate.
Rabbi Simon Jacobson
Meaningful Life Center
Brooklyn, NY

Opening picture: Shimon and Levi slay the Shechemites as in Genesis 34:25-29. (Photo credit: Illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible; illustrated by Gerard Hoet and others.)