Itamar Mann

Israel's New Death Penalty Bill: It's about Revenge A new bill aims to introduce a mandatory death penalty for acts of terrorism against Israel. It would mark a troubling departure from established penal principles.

A new bill in #Israel seeks to introduce a mandatory death penalty for killings with the intent to "harm the State of Israel and the revival of the Jewish people in its land."

It's a troubling departure from established penal principles,
@itamann.bsky.social argues.

Gesetzentwurf zu Todesstrafe: Gefährliche Wende in Israel Ein neues Gesetz will 'Terror gegen Israel' mit der Todesstrafe belegen, um die 'Wiederbelebung des jüdischen Volkes' zu schützen. Eine Warnung vor den Folgen.

Ein neues Gesetz will "Terror gegen Israel" mit der Todesstrafe belegen, um die "Wiederbelebung des jüdischen Volkes in seinem Land" zu schützen. @itamann.bsky.social warnt vor den Folgen – für Palästinenser wie für die israelische Gesellschaft.

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To be clear: this bill.goes well beyond the legislation currently in force in France.

The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas Part III Tess Bridgeman is joined by Rebecca Ingber and Brian Finucane to assess how the campaign has evolved and what to expect moving forward.

This is murder. I recommend this excellent discussion with @tessbridgeman.bsky.social @becingber.bsky.social @bcfinucane.bsky.social www.justsecurity.org/122950/podca...

It is interesting that you do not use the words murder or assassination. What is the distinction?

Can the em dash be rescued?

Chat, is it too woke to know when people are food insecure? 🤔

In the runup to #ESIL25, Johanne Breum Jacobsen and William Sass interviewed me for Information about an earlier @verfassungsblog.de editorial. The piece just came out, and it is great to see such deep engagement in Danish public debate (the English autotranslation works beautifully).

Series ahead!

2025 Call for Special Issue Proposals Deadline: 15 December 2025 Migration Studies is now accepting Special Issue proposals. The journal typically publishes one call for special issues pe

call for special issues @migrationjrnl.bsky.social academic.oup.com/migration/pa...

NYTs bothsidesism on acts of murder is truly impressive

Human rights victory! Or maybe just more evidence that courts will pursue accountability only when the underlying political issue is literally dead

SRM #5 is live!

🧵Here are some of the major stories, many of them exclusives:

A crucial, timely report on the weaponization of antisemitism. @itamann.bsky.social and I contributed an essay exploring its legal dimensions, reflecting on Jewish plurality and the knotty relationship between Jewish and Israeli identities. Grateful for @emilyctamkin.bsky.social brilliant guidance.

Police to get new powers to crack down on repeated protests, says Home Office Move follows arrest of almost 500 people at latest pro-Palestinian demonstration in London on Saturday

The Home Secretary is now planning to find a way to criminalise the "cumulative effect" of protest.

On this day, Sept 30 2000, Muhammad al-Durra was killed on camera.

I was 9 years old. On this day I understood the lives of Palestinian children were considered cheap by many.

If only we knew that we would go on to watch thousands of children die on our screens.

U.S. Deports Planeload of Iranians After Deal With Tehran, Officials Say

Terrifying: U.S. Deports Planeload of Iranians After Deal With Tehran, Officials Say www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/w...

They heard me

International Law Experts: Genocide in Gaza? Does Israel’s conduct in Gaza constitute genocide? LTO asked eleven international law experts. After 22 months of war, a clear tendency is emerging.

Itamar Mann, Professor at the University of Haifa, Faculty of Law:

“The only reasonable inference from the cumulative evidence is that Israel’s conduct in Gaza constitutes genocide.“

LTO asked eleven international experts, if Israel is commiting Genocide. Outcome: 9x yes, 2x not sure (2025/08/15)

Trump speech reminded me of Ronald Dworkin's old quip that drawing lots may be better than voting for the selection of public officials.

Recognition of Palestine is welcome, but the time has come for more direct measures. States should consider e.g. naval escorts for the Sumud flotilla. Israel has no legal right to block humanitarian aid while committing genocide.

Hiroshima paradigm (popular myth): the greater the violence a government uses, the quicker it is able to end hostilities.

Gaza paradigm (hypothesis): the greater the violence a government uses, the longer the hostilities will end up lasting.

Hannah Arendt predicted the Sparta direction I think as early as 1944. Netanyahu agrees with both of you.

Suicidal Cultural Genocide in “Super Sparta”: substack.com/@itamarmann/...

“Shame on Humanity”: Gaza Doctor Pleads with World to Stop Israel’s Genocide As Israel continues its campaign to erase Gaza City by systematically bombing residential buildings, schools, homes and tent encampments, we speak with Dr. Mohammed Saqr, the director of nursing at Na...

Watch this interview with Dr. Mohammed Saqr. As Israeli tanks push tonight into Gaza City, the South Part of the Strip, where he is located, is projected to become even more crowded with displaced people who have lost everything.

www.democracynow.org/2025/9/15/mo...

Analysis: Trump claims he can do anything he wants with the military. Here’s what the law says | CNN Politics Having rebranded the Department of Defense as the Department of War, the president is going on offense with the US military.

“The decision to blow up the boat and kill everyone onboard when interdiction and detention was a clearly available option is manifestly illegal and immoral" -- sad have to make such an obvious point, but here we are.

Read the whole piece: www.cnn.com/2025/09/10/p...

I think that’s an old assumption going back eg to Hobbes, and (not necessarily relatedly) also quite central to Nazi political theory. Trying to push against it. I understand that you are not convinced.

Who Gets to Speak in the Israeli University?

Reflecting on what it means to research & teach international law in an Israeli university today, while spending time away from my home institution & academic community. Grateful to Völkerrechtsblog for inviting me to share these early thoughts. voelkerrechtsblog.org/who-gets-to-...

They studied law, opposed Netanyahu – and now approve Israeli army's mass killings in Gaza For Years, the Israeli Army's Military Advocate General's Corps Sought to Assure the World, and Itself, That Its Legal Oversight Prevented Worse Outcomes in Wartime. Today, That Claim Rings Hollow

"The banality of evil in the Gaza war is not embodied in malicious individuals but in the routine work of jurists who authorized orders for air strikes that have led to the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians while relying on International Humanitarian Law."
www.haaretz.com/magazine/202...

Market likes hubris