The US-Israel Attack on Iran Violates International Law. Silence Makes Us Complicit.

US President Donald J. Trump has launched his most dangerous act of aggression yet on the world stage. Posterity will be taking copious notes on how the world responds.

Trump’s illegal February 28, 2026, attack on Iran came after he offered the Trojan horse of sham “diplomacy” to de-escalate a purported nuclear threat to the US. His action was a blatant attempt to “wag the dog,” aiming to distract from damning revelations implicating him in the Epstein files and his waning popularity at home ahead of the mid-term elections. He aspires to more control of global oil resources and to cater to his religious fundamentalist base. Trump’s incursion accordingly lacks any reasonable endgame strategy for Iran. None of this should come as a surprise given Trump’s record. Just weeks ago, he ordered the unlawful “rendition” of Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela for similar reasons.

Trump has veiled his latest actions in humanitarian dissimulation. At the center of his opportunistic deflection is his claim to care about the liberation of the Iranian people from what is undeniable suffering at the hands of the reprehensible rule of the Ayatollahs. That regime’s recent repressive massacring of tens of thousands of courageous Iranian protesters created the perfect storm for Trump to initiate his nefarious plan.

On cue, Machiavellian Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seized the opportunity to once again “pre-emptively” attack Iran to lift his falling poll numbers ahead of the upcoming Israeli election, in which a victory would help him stay out of jail. As with the American onslaught, Israeli aggression is not about bringing liberty to the Iranian people. Netanyahu’s government does not wish for a free Iran; on the contrary, it hopes for a weak Iran that can no longer pose a threat to Israel. The resulting assault has led to predictable reprisals from Iran and its allies. As the United States and Israel respond to each of these retaliations in kind, the cycle of violence and killing escalates with no end in sight. It will continue to reignite old hatreds and birth new appetites for revenge on all sides.

Like each of us, I have a responsibility to myself, my children, and our descendants to explain where I stand at this fraught moment, as the world descends into an abyss. Make no mistake: no matter how this precarious situation ultimately unfolds, posterity will be paying close attention to how onlookers respond, whether with staunch support, tacit endorsement, complicit silence, or firm opposition.

Operations “Epic Fury” and “Roaring Lion” Teach Expressly the Wrong Lesson

I am an ordained Jewish cantor and Progressive Zionist who loves the people and land of Israel and who is fully cognizant of the existential threat that the Iranian theocracy presents for them and the world. Nevertheless, allow me to be abundantly clear: I am wholeheartedly opposed to the criminal acts of aggression against Iran that the United States has dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” and that Israel calls “Operation Roaring Lion.” I similarly publicly denounced Israel’s June, 2025 “Operation Rising Lion” campaign, which targeted Iran for equally fallacious reasoning. I repeat what I exhorted then: two wrongs never make a right.

I have come to understand the lethal implications of that deceptively simple lesson in my work as an activist striving to end the vengeful practice of capital punishment. Just as that lesson applies to Israel’s genocidal acts in Gaza in response to the horrific Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, so, too, does it apply to Trump and Netanyahu’s latest military offensive against Iran.

Even if, against all odds, the current conflict leads to regime change and does not snowball into a broader regional war, the ends of this offensive do not justify the means. It may be that Mojtaba Khamenei, or any subsequent ayatollah that the mullahs (or Trump himself) elect, will miraculously change course from Ali Khamenei’s violent fanaticism. Alternatively, the hoi polloi might still somehow manage to topple the government once and for all. Then again, perhaps the incursion will be over in only “four to five weeks,” as per Trump’s already recantedpromise. (That fantastical timetable is contrary to many signs on the ground, including the Pentagon’s preparations for continuing war through September and the opening of new fronts in the ever-expanding conflict.) Maybe, once this campaign’s dust eventually settles, the world will be safer, with a saner governing model at Iran’s helm.

Still, none of these outcomes would legitimize Trump and Netanyahu’s manifestly illicit actions. Every ship that the US and Israel sink, each jet they shoot down, and any tactical advantage they gain in this war only further deepens the grave they dig for the prospect of gaining the moral high ground and halting the cycle of killings that their very actions fuel.

Regrettably, countless individuals feel otherwise. Some conclude that Trump and Netanyahu’s acts of aggression in Iran are legal and appropriate responses to Iran’s deplorable history of proxy wars and direct missile attacks. Others specifically misapply international law, erroneously citing it as a justification for this unprovoked attack. Their errors are perilous, at best; catastrophic, at worst. Their failure to hold the ethical line in this pivotal moment endangers the international rule of law.

There are, of course, occasions that do legally justify war. I myself would have enlisted to fight against Hitler, Napoleon, and other aggressors throughout history. This latest foray into Iran, despite the real threat that the regime poses, categorically does not qualify. The vast majority of international political and legal scholars agreethat it is an obvious abrogation of international humanitarian law.

Empathizing with Victims of the Iranian Regime

Before returning to the legal case, it is worth pausing on the human one. Those of us who oppose this attack must remember that many individuals whom the Iranian regime has harmed have legitimate reasons for welcoming the assault. One can only imagine how those with victimized loved ones would celebrate the attacks that began on February 28. As a dedicated death penalty abolitionist, I am keenly aware of the mortal danger that Iranian mullahs have posed for their own citizens through the use of politically-motivated capital punishment, including public hangings, and other barbaric “criminal justice” practices. Examples include the state killings of Iranian Jews like Nethanel ben Ziona Ghahremani, (of blessed memory), who Iran put to death for a clear act of self-defense, and of non-Jews like Mahsa Amini, (of blessed memory), whose unjustifiable murder at the hands of Iranian authorities sparked the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement. I have many dear Iranian friends who have been applauding these efforts to “liberate” their homeland.

We should extend the same latitude to individuals in the line of Iranian fire in Israel and in other locations throughout the Middle East. If I were living in Israel or if the Iranian government had targeted my own family, I, too, likely would welcome the recent attacks on Iran. I therefore do not judge anyone whose loved ones the Iranian regime has assailed. The world has a responsibility to balance protecting these individuals’ needs as much as possible while observing international law. Trump and Netanyahu’s gamble rejects that balance entirely.

There are no so-called “good guys” in this conflict. Neither can there be two sets of rules: not for Trump and Netanyahu, nor for my fellow Jews and Gentile neighbors. It is more imperative than ever for civilized humanity to cling to the underlying ethical standards that hold us afloat, however delicately. The world must continue to seek to remove the threat of the current Iranian regime legally and justly through continued binding negotiation.

“The March of Folly”

The illegal actions of megalomaniacs like Trump and Netanyahu serve as but the latest installment in what acclaimed historian Barbara Tuchman has dubbed “The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam,” namely, humanity’s repeated pattern of amassing more wrongs in the purported attempt to make things right. History may assert that I am incorrect in applying this calculus here; yet, it is often the victors who write history. No matter how the history books ultimately frame it, Trump and Netanyahu’s recent deadly strikes were politically-motivated attacks that rationalized war-mongering under the grossly misapplied flag of “self-defense.” It is moot to ask whether it was strategically advantageous to attack Iran when it was weak and isolated; the ethical argument must always outweigh the strategic one.

“Ethics.”

“International humanitarian law.”

“Human rights.”

These terms all matter. They are not simply words on a page or ideas to ponder or heed when convenient. They serve as underpinnings to the rule of law. Society ignores that law and these foundational values at its peril. Doing so leaves an opening for others to manipulate for their own felonious ends.

I have a responsibility as a global citizen and proud Jew to do my part to uphold the evolving standards of human rights that I believe my spiritual tradition has been striving to carve out since its founding. To remain silent or toe the party line in the face of the erosion of this ethical thin red line is to be complicit in its destruction. To do so strains credulity, especially now, when opening salvos in this conflict have already resulted in well over eleven hundred Iranian civilian deaths in Iran, a devastating majority of the roughly thirteen hundred reported deaths thus far.

As of this writing, just over a week into this war, that death toll includes 168 seven-to-twelve-year-old girls and staff at Shajareh Tayyebeh, a bombed-out primary school in Minab, and mounting deaths from other retaliatory attacks in Israel and across the Middle East. This tally says nothing of the deaths of combatants, including at least seven American soldiers killed, with many more on all sides of this conflict likely to follow. Meanwhile, hospitals across the region overflow with the wounded. This war has also displaced over a million civilians and cost billions of dollars, promising to wreak havoc on the world economy. While there can be some room for flexibility, even bending the “rules of war” when adhering to such ideals in the service of ultimate peace and balance, cutting corners on any casus belli (cause for war) or jus ad bellum (justification for war) when human lives are at stake is not viable, by definition.

Sounding the Alarm for Future Generations, no Matter the Cost 

I recently reposted a statement on social media from T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights that stridently opposes the illegitimate attack against Iran. In response, a fellow Jewish clergyperson who endorses the assaults on Iran stated disparagingly that future generations will remember where I stood in this moment and will “never forget” my traitorous attitude.

I expect nothing less.

Posterity will rightfully judge us all for how we respond to these wanton acts, the consequences of which will most likely have a ripple effect upon them years from now. The U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran threatens the very foundation of collective ethics and international law. The disgraceful flaunting of the rule of law sets a calamitous precedent moving forward. It opens a Pandora’s Box of potential lawlessness on a global scale, one in which “might makes right.” It may very well take years for civilization to claw its way back to the ethical baseline that tenuously existed before February 28. Our children absolutely should hold us accountable for our stance and public response today.

We, in turn, should demand the same from our leaders, including the shameful initial endorsements of this illegality from middle powers such as the E3 and Australia. Here in Canada, the best that my own Prime Minister, Mark Carney, could muster in walking back his tacit support for the February 28 attacks was to add that he did so “with some regret” over its apparent violation of international order. He then subsequently indicated that he would not rule out Canada’s participation in this criminal endeavor.

When I publicly opposed the Gaza genocide last year, many others treated me as if I wore a veritable “Mark of Cain.” A similar pattern is likely to emerge now, once many colleagues in the circles I frequent read this commentary. Already, I have lost count of how many times my coreligionists have labelled me a “kapo” for my views, comparing me to Jewish concentration camp inmates who served the SS guards and betrayed their fellow Jews. If I end up reprising a villainous role in the minds of such critics, so be it. There is far too much at stake for humanity’s welfare to remain silent and risk normalizing such egregious, opportunistic displays of power.

If we cannot unravel this tightening Gordian knot of tyranny in our lifetimes, the very least we can do is proclaim our response in the public record as fervently as possible. The hope is that our pleas might inspire our progeny to find a way to mend the broken world we will have left them. This testament is my best attempt at that implicit charge to posterity.

There is a well-known aphorism from an ancient Jewish text entitled Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers). Rabbi Tarfon asserts: “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.” (2:16) May we each do our part in sounding the alarm loudly enough to motivate our descendants to help reckon with the disastrous fallout of this latest chapter in humanity’s ruinous march of folly, once and for all.

And may our offspring heed this call.

This first appeared on The Jurist.

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