War: Between the call for peace and the sword of conquest

Source: Laws of war: Peace as a first condition

War is not waged against anyone in the world until they are first offered peace. If they make peace and accept the seven commandments enjoined upon the descendants of Noah, not a single soul among them is killed, and they become subject to tribute, as it is stated: "they shall be subject to tribute and serve you"... The servitude they accept means they shall be humbled and lowly, and shall not raise their heads in Israel, but remain subjugated beneath them; nor shall they be appointed over Israel in any capacity whatsoever. The tribute they accept means they must be ready to serve the king with their bodies and their wealth, such as building walls, fortifying strongholds, constructing the royal palace, and the like.

When laying siege to a city to capture it, it is not surrounded on all four sides, but only on three, leaving an opening for anyone who wishes to flee and escape with their life.

(Maimonides, Laws of Kings, Chapter 6, Halachot 1; 7. Image: American warships in the Strait of Hormuz, 'Out of the straits I called upon the Lord')

Explanation: Rules of war: Ancient ethics

Many years before modern conventions calling for the rules of war, Maimonides formulated rules of war rooted in the desire to bring peace. Before war is waged, the enemy must first be offered peace. Even if they refuse and continue to fight, they must be allowed to flee their position without being taken captive or dying in war, and a city is not placed under total siege. As for an enemy that surrenders or is defeated, their civic status is lowered, with no right to be appointed to any managerial or leadership post, and their work limited solely to blue-collar roles.

Perspective: Between morality and strategy: When may peace be foregone?

According to the Torah in chapter 20 of Deuteronomy, the offer of peace seemingly applies only to distant enemies, while enemies living in the Land of Israel are to be wiped out without an offer of peace. A substantial portion of Torah commentators extend the offer of peace even to a milchemet mitzvah (an obligatory war, such as the conquest of the Land of Israel). The prevailing view holds that there are two reasons to offer peace: one moral—that a distant enemy should not be killed unnecessarily—and the other tactical: perhaps to avoid fostering ongoing enmity, or to retain people to perform hard labor, rather than out of a moral desire to spare enemy lives. Indeed, according to various commentators, the need to offer peace in an existential war in the land is merely an option rather than an obligation, left to the discretion of the Jewish leadership.

Going Deeper: The myth of India: When violence leads to freedom

A familiar myth holds that India freed itself from British colonialism without bloodshed, thanks to Mahatma Gandhi's advocacy of nonviolent protest.

Yet historical reality is entirely different: severe Indian violence—on a scale far exceeding that of the undergrounds in Israel—is what compelled the British to grant India independence. The Indian National Army, naval mutinies, and revolutionary movements all fought British rule through armed force. Furthermore, as the British withdrew, a bloody civil war erupted among Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs, claiming over a million lives and turning roughly fifteen million people into refugees.

Gandhi may have grieved the violence, but in reality, it was only because of it that India achieved its independence.

Culture: Victory inscriptions: Who writes the memory of war?

Across the globe lie scattered numerous victory inscriptions, silent witnesses to wars of the past; many have been destroyed over time, but remnants endure in Greece, Rome, Egypt, Iran, and throughout Europe. Their original purpose was not merely pride, but a display of power and the deterrence of enemies. Interestingly, we find no victory inscriptions erected by the kings of Judah and Israel, apart from accounts in the Bible. The most prominent artifact unearthed in the Land of Israel is actually the Mesha Stele (840 BCE), which celebrates the Moabite king's victory over the Kingdom of Israel.

We are all familiar with the Arch of Titus commemorating the destruction of Jerusalem, but there are even older inscriptions that mention our people in a similar context. Here is one: the "Israel Stele" from 1207 BCE, in which Pharaoh Merneptah boasts that "Israel is laid waste, its seed is no more"—a grandiose declaration signifying the annihilation of the people and the eradication of their means of subsistence.