AG says army’s anti-kidnapping protocol ‘balanced’
Weinstein says controversial Hannibal Protocol prohibits killing abducted soldiers to stop them being taken hostage
Tamar Pileggi is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said Monday that a controversial IDF protocol intended to thwart the abduction of IDF soldiers is “appropriately balanced” and does not permit killing the kidnapped soldier to prevent him from falling into enemy hands.
Known as the Hannibal Protocol, the directive details a set of actions which may be undertaken once it is believed that an abduction has taken place, in order to stop the kidnappers and prevent them from successfully fleeing with their captive.
Though the protocol is classified, it is believed to authorize the use of massive force and firepower to fulfill its objective. It use during last summer’s Gaza war — to foil the kidnapping of the Givati brigade’s Lt. Hadar Goldin — drew international condemnation after the IDF heavily shelled a densely populated neighborhood of Shejaiya, resulting in the deaths of as many as 150 civilians.
It also appeared to condone killing the captive to prevent a prolonged hostage crisis, if soldiers’ accounts from that battle were to be believed.
A Givati commander anonymously told Ynet after the conflict ended: “When you encounter such an incident you prefer a dead soldier over a soldier held by Hamas like a (Gilad) Schalit 2. You prefer a body over a kidnapped soldier
“We made clear to the troops many times the threat of an abduction and the goal of thwarting it, should it occur — while hitting the enemy even at the price of hitting your friends.”
In response to an appeal by the Association of Civil Rights in Israel questioning the legality of the directive, Weinstein said on Monday that while any military action to stop an abduction after it has occurred carried risk to the abductee’s life, there was no prohibition in international law on taking such action.
He added that while the details of the directive were classified, it prohibited firing with the intent of killing the hostage. He also said it “appropriately balanced” the various considerations which existed in such a situation.
The IDF’s legal division, the Office of the Military Advocate General, has been reviewing dozens of incidents involving the deaths of civilians during Operation Protective Edge. Of those, the MAG has ordered 13 criminal investigations to date, against soldiers suspected of deviations from protocol that resulted in avoidable casualties — the deaths of close to 50 Palestinians.
The MAG is now considering whether to open a criminal investigation into the civilian deaths resulting from the shelling of Shejaiya during the enactment of the Hannibal Protocol.