The Rules Only Israel Has to Follow – with John Spencer

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Israel is fighting two wars: one on the ground in Gaza—and another in the court of global opinion.

In this episode, host Aviva Klompas is joined by urban warfare expert John Spencer to discuss the double standards Israel faces in its fight against Hamas. While other democracies conduct military campaigns with little scrutiny, Israel is seemingly expected to wage war without civilian casualties.

Aviva and John discuss the pressure on the IDF to operate under moral and tactical constraints that no other military would accept—and how those constraints may be prolonging the war and increasing the death toll on both sides.

Guest Bio:

John Spencer is an award-winning scholar, internationally recognized expert and advisor on urban warfare, military strategy, tactics, and other related topics. Considered one of the world’s leading experts on urban warfare, he served as an advisor to the top four-star general and other senior leaders in the U.S. Army as part of strategic research groups from the Pentagon to the United States Military Academy. John currently serves as the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Madison Policy Forum, Co-Director of the Urban Warfare Project, and host of the Urban Warfare Project podcast.

More from John on double standards:

https://x.com/SpencerGuard/status/1951354086282109391