Purity of arms

Purity of arms (Hebrew: טוהר הנשק Tohar HaNeshek) is one of the core values listed in the Spirit of the Israel Defense Forces. It is described as the following:

The soldier shall make use of his weaponry and power only for the fulfillment of the mission and solely to the extent required; he will maintain his humanity even in combat. The soldier shall not employ his weaponry and power in order to harm non-combatants or prisoners of war, and shall do all he can to avoid harming their lives, body, honor and property.

— Spirit of the Israel Defense Forces[1]

The assertion of this ethical code by Israel has historically spurred controversy over the course of the Arab–Israeli conflict, particularly in light of documented Israeli war crimes and allegations of Palestinian genocide.[2][3][4]

  1. ^ "Doctrine". Israel Defense Forces. 2006. Archived from the original on April 30, 2006.
  2. ^ Fassin, Didier (February 5, 2024). "The Rhetoric of Denial: Contribution to an Archive of the Debate about Mass Violence in Gaza". Journal of Genocide Research: 1–7. doi:10.1080/14623528.2024.2308941.
  3. ^ Levene, Mark (January 21, 2024). "Gaza 2023: Words Matter, Lives Matter More" (PDF). Journal of Genocide Research (Forum: Israel–Palestine: Atrocity Crimes and the Crisis of Holocaust and Genocide Studies): 1–7. doi:10.1080/14623528.2024.2301866. eISSN 1469-9494. Archived from the original on July 4, 2024.
  4. ^ Morris, Scott R. (1996). "Killing Egyptian Prisoners of War: Does the Phrase Lest We Forget Apply to Israeli War Criminals". Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law. 29: 903.