We wanted to join those calling for more discussions regarding national weapons reviews. Notwithstanding that Israel is not a party to [AP I], and as such is not bound by Article 36 of that Protocol, Israel is of the view that conducting legal reviews to new weapons is an effective instrument for a state to ensure that it uses only lawful means of warfare during armed conflicts. Accordingly, Israel has in place a national weapons legal review procedure presented in elaboration during previous GGE sessions. Weapon reviews are an important avenue for human input in the weapon’s life-cycle, and enhances compliance with international law. As such, conducting legal reviews to new weapon systems touches the very heart of our discussions. We are convinced that national weapons reviews will be of substantial importance in determining compliance of LAWS with IHL and view the discussions on this issue in the framework of this forum as very helpful. We would like to support the statements made this morning by the UK and others regarding the possibility of legal reviews to address risks of breaches of IHL, as well as the words of the technical expert from Finland regarding the need not to stigmatise specific elements of technology.
Statement by Israel under agenda item 5, topic 5 (9 March 2023, transcript)
