In what seemed a role reversal, the Supreme Court of Israel rendered an unusual ruling for a country besieged by terrorism. The justices decided that terrorists should be treated as civilians and afforded protection under the Geneva Convention.

As Dorit Beinisch, president of that Supreme Court, noted in the inaugural Holt Lecture, it was the first time any national court applied the protocol to terrorists.

“Our guiding principle is that the battle against terrorism must be fought within the law,” she said in explaining the decision.

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