Is Israel's war with Iran justified?
Purple Catholic Saturday Post
Good morning and happy Saturday.
Last week, Israel launched preventive strikes against Iran and sparked a new hot war in the region. Both countries have been lobbing missiles back and forth and it appears that discussions yesterday in New York and in Geneva were not fruitful.
Israel’s justification of sparking this new conflict relies on intelligence reports that Iran is very close to completing a nuclear weapon and Israel fears that Iran intends to use it on them. The official position of the Iranian government is to eliminate the state of Israel, which it refers to as the “Zionist regime.” Recent intelligence and reports from the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency could produce enough weapons-grade uranium in one to two weeks. Because of Iran’s consistent rhetoric and the reported capability of nuclear weapon in the near future, I would say Israel’s fears of an attack from Iran are justified.
But does a justified fear equate to a justified military strike against another country? To evaluate this we must evaluate just war theory, something of which our Catholic faith and worldview has much to say.
To be clear, peace is (or perhaps should be) our ultimate goal. Pope Leo XIV said this week to Rai News that we must always promote peace. In our hearts and in our minds we strive for the perfect peace that is found in God, but on earth we are sinners and thus fall short. St. Thomas Aquinas says this is why wars break out. He writes that even those who go to war with one another are in fact seeking some sort of peace; the peace which existed before the strike was imperfect and ought to be improved upon (Summa Theologia, Secunda Secundae Partis, Q29A2).
Israel was clearly uncomfortable with the current peace it had with Iran (see the reasons stated above). As such, Israel struck in attempt to build a new type of peace that it was more willing to accept.
Israeli officials have explicitly said so in recent days. Their ambassador to the Holy See, Yaron Sideman, told EWTN News, “We are preventing further escalation by depriving … the most dangerous regime on earth from the most dangerous deadly weapon on earth.” In other words, we didn’t like what was going on, we perceived what was going on to be a threat, so we decided to do something about it. “Even those who seek war and dissension, desire nothing but peace, which they deem themselves not to have,” as Aquinas says.
Now that we have evaluated the reasons for the strike and we can understand the Israeli position, we can turn to whether or not the strike was justified. Aquinas, and St. Augustine preceding him, have laid the foundation for the Church’s understanding of conflict in accordance with Divine Revelation and human reason.
Aquinas declares that there are three things necessary for a strike or war to be just:
The strike must be authorized by a recognized sovereign. This simply means that governments declare war, individuals and businesses do not.
There must be a just cause. Aquinas quotes Augustine here that just war requires the avenge of some wrong or restoration of something taken.
The attacker must have the right intention, namely that they are advancing good or avoiding evil. (Secunda Secundae Partis, Q40A1)
The current conflict between Ukraine and Russia is a clear example of a war that is unjust. Russia meets the first criteria (it is a legitimate state) but fails to encompass the latter two. Russia’s stated goals are to ward off NATO expansion and eliminate the “nazism” they claim to be in Ukraine. Furthermore, Russian officials have offered peace treaties that demand more land then they have currently conquered. It is clear Russia’s intention is to seize more land and assert its cultural dominance over eastern Europe. Russia’s invasion is unjust.
Between Israel and Iran, the reality is a little more complicated. If we assume the public declarations of the Israeli government to be true, then we can easily say that Israel meets the first two criteria of Aquinas’ just war doctrine. Israel is a legitimate state (even if it is not recognized by Iran, it is recognized by the rest of the world) and it’s intention is avoid the evil of nuclear conflict.
The second criteria is where it is tricky. Aquinas says an attack is justified “because [the defending state] deserve[s] it on account of some fault.” Augustine is quoted by Aquinas on the same matter: a war is just “when a nation or state has to be punished, for refusing to make amends for the wrongs inflicted by its subjects, or to restore what it has seized unjustly.”
Has Iran committed some fault for which it must be punished? Officially, they claim not to have a nuclear weapon or to be developing one. What raises alarm is the amount of enriched uranium they have been stockpiling which could be used for a nuclear weapon. But is could be used for a weapon the same as is being used? No. Is could be a justified cause for a preventative strike? Maybe. Israel would have to demonstrate that it had evidence that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon and was going to use it against Israel. Other than the reports of enriched uranium, I have not seen a report detailing Iran’s attempts to create a nuclear weapon.
There is another aspect to consider which I have not yet mentioned. Hamas is an Iranian proxy and it has received funding and weapons from the Iranian government. Officially, Iran says it had no prior knowledge of the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas in Israel, but it is not unreasonable to say that Iran could hold some of the responsibility due to its material support of Hamas.
Would that be a just cause for a recent strike on Iran? Possibly. Iran has publicly stated it will not stop backing groups like Hamas and organizations like Hamas would likely not exist without the support of a state actor. Therefore Iran has not attempted to make amends with Israel following the October 7 attacks, to the extent that it shares some responsibility.
Since declaring a conflict can, at times, be difficult, we must not be so quick to declare one way or the other. Additionally, we must not dismiss or dehumanize those around us with whom we have differences. Both Israel and Iran have stated that their issue is not with the people living in opposite countries, but with their governments. I hope this is borne out by their actions.
As Pope Leo XIV said this week, we must seek dialogue and peace via diplomatic means. We have seen the atrocities that wars can cause and avoid them. We must also remember the words of our Lord throughout these times: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).
More recent comments on Israel/Iran and just war theory:
The U.S. should stay out of Israel’s war with Iran - Edward Feser in Catholic World Report
War is a last resort - Monsignor Stuart Swetland on Relevant Radio’s Morning Air (conversation starts at 17:45)
Death Comes for the Archbishop
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Solemnity of Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (also known as Corpus Christi) and we will hear Genesis 14:18-20, Psalm 110, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, and Luke 9:11-17. Many of us will also hear the Lauda Sion sequence at Mass.
Here is a calendar for the rest of the week:
Tuesday, 24 June - Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
Friday, 27 June - Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Saturday, 28 June - Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (optional) or Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, bishop and martyr (optional)
I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.
John 6:51
In the news:
The United States
Auction for the sale of pope’s childhood home extended - Catholic News Agency
Trump Accounts would invest in children, but would they help the poor? - WORLD Magazine
The Vatican
Pope: Intelligence is seeking life's true meaning, not having reams of data - Catholic News Service
Pope Leo XIV recognizes martyrdom of fifty Frenchmen killed Nazis in World War II - OSV News
The World
Christian wedding party attacked in central India - Crux
Syro-Malabar liturgical dispute comes to an end; priests will be ad orientem at least once a Sunday - UCA News
Widow, mother of 4 nuns and a priest, takes perpetual vows - National Catholic Register
Have a good weekend,
Matthew