UN to refer Israeli occupation to court – Lapid’s reaction
The United Nations decolonisation committee has adopted a draft Palestinian resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on Israel’s prolonged occupation.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid arrives for a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, July 31, 2022. Credit: Marc Israel Sellem/POOL.
The resolution approved at UN headquarters in New York asks that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) “urgently” weigh in on Israel’s “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory”, which it says violates the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem – areas that Palestinians want for a state – in a 1967 Middle East war.
United States-sponsored negotiations stalled in 2014.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said in a statement 98 countries supported the resolution, 52 abstained, and 17 voted against.
Al-Maliki welcomed the vote and described the resolution as a “diplomatic and legal breakthrough” that will “open a new era for holding Israel accountable for its war crimes”.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said by calling to involve the ICJ, “the Palestinians are decimating any chances of reconciliation”.
Addressing the forum, he said: “The Palestinians have rejected every single peace initiative and now they embroil an external body with the excuse that the conflict has not been resolved?”
At the committee’s meeting on Thursday, the US deputy representative to the UN said an ICJ advisory opinion is “counterproductive and will only take the parties further away from the objective we all share of a negotiated two-state solution”.
The ICJ last weighed in on the conflict in 2004, when it ruled that the Israeli separation barrier was illegal. Israel disputes this.
Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid said: “Israel strongly rejects the Palestinian resolution at the United Nations.
This is another unilateral Palestinian move which undermines the basic principles for resolving the conflict and may harm any possibility for a future process. The Palestinians want to replace negotiations with unilateral steps. They are again using the United Nations to attack Israel.
This step will not change the reality on the ground, nor will it help the Palestinian people in any way; it may even result in an escalation. Supporting this move is a prize for terrorist organizations and the campaign against Israel.
We thank the many countries that did not support this resolution and made it clear that this is neither the way to promote stability nor to resolve the conflict.
We call upon on all the countries that supported yesterday’s proposal to reconsider their position and oppose it when it’s voted upon in the General Assembly. The way to resolve the conflict does not pass through the corridors of the UN or other international bodies.”
Australia’s representative said her delegation voted against the resolution because it does not support a referral to the International Court of Justice. Doing so will not help bring the parties together for negotiations, she said, adding that advisory opinions should not be used to settle bilateral disputes.
AAP/J-Wire
Yje State of Israel needs to leave the nefarious United Nations, It is truly a waste of time for Israel to be insulted and threatened almost every session of the UN. Even Australia and New Zealand votes against Israel at the UN.