AG to appoint special team to examine ICJ ruling on fence

[Gimel]

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz decided Sunday to set up a team of experts to examine Friday's ruling by the International Court of Justice at The Hague that parts of the West Bank separation fence are illegal.

The team will be headed by Dr. Shavit Matias, an expert on international law, and will look into the court's decision. Its conclusions and recommendations will be presented to the attorney general and other Israeli officials.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday ordered construction work on the West Bank separation fence to continue.

Sharon said that the building work on the fence will proceed in line with last month's ruling by the Israeli High Court of Justice. The court ruled on June 30 that a fence built in the West Bank for security reasons is legal, but it must balance security considerations against the needs of local residents. The court ordered that some 32 kilometers of a 40-kilometer stretch of the fence, close to Jerusalem, should be relocated.

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[ex_jew]

1. I'm impressed - didn't they already pledge to ignore the ruling ?

But now they're going to "look into it". If I understand, the ICJ decision is FINAL. There is no appeal. You either comply or you don't. Maybe bullhead Sharon should start thinking seriously about what it means to set yourself outside the rule of law.

[Jack Rabbit]

2. The decision is advisory

Nevertheless, it's very bad PR for Israel. It was also an advisory opinion from the ICJ concerning South Africa's occupation of Namibia that led to the economic sanctions against that nation and the end of Apartheid.

The Israeli government would be well advised to make some gesture toward compliance. While Apartheid was a very simple issue morally, Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is more complex. Ending Apartheid was an easy stand to take. When one says Israel should end the occupation of the Palestinian territories, one appears to be oversimplifying the issues.

For my part, I support Israel's right to security, and therefore to occupy the territories until there is a nonaggression pact with a credible Palestinian leadership; on the other hand, I strongly condemn the construction of Jewish-only settlements in the territories or anything that even remotely resembles annexation the territories.

I believe the ICJ ruling was a sound application of the law to the facts that does not infringe on Israel's right to security.

[Gimel]

3. The diplomatic angle

Surely this won't be the end of the matter. Israel has no intention of complying to the grotesque order.

The study of the decision is not to comply with it but the fight against it. "Know thy enemy."