John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, says Israel being held to a standard that does not exist anywhere else in the world when it is criticized for the war with Hamas.
“Israel is being measured by double and triple standards” that "does not exist anywhere in the world," Spencer said at a Jerusalem Institute for Public and State Affairs (JCPA) briefing.
He added, “The IDF uses tactics that no army has ever seen to prevent harm to civilians and still fulfill its mission."
Spencer declared the accusations that Israel is engaged in indiscriminate bombing, war crimes, or genocide "all a lie" and that if other Western countries were held to the same standard Israel is being held to, it would be impossible for any country to fight terrorism.
He noted that the US was not criticized for the tens of thousands of civilians who were killed in the fight against ISIS, despite Israel's taking further steps to avoid civilian casualties than the US has.
Spencer used the March IDF operation at the al-Shifa Hospital, which resulted in zero civilian casualties, as an example of the unprecedented lengths Israel goes to avoid harming civilians.
“None of this meant anything to Israel's critics," he said. “In their criticism, Israel's opponents are erasing a remarkable, historic new standard Israel has set.
In my long career studying and advising on urban warfare for the U.S. military, I've never known an army to take such measures to attend to the enemy's civilian population, especially while simultaneously combating the enemy in the very same buildings.”
Spencer has been a frequent defender of Israel during the war that began with the Hamas massacre of October 7. Earlier in the war, he stated that "no military in modern history has faced over 30,000 urban defenders in more than seven cities using human shields and hiding in hundreds of miles of underground networks purposely built under civilian sites while holding hundreds of hostages.”
Noting the millions of prerecorded calls, hundreds of thousands of dropped flies, and tens of thousands of SMS messages Israel has sent to Gazan civilians telling them to evacuate before military operations, he said, “No military in history has ever done this.”
