PALESTINE
Thu 07 Sep 2023 9:08 am - Jerusalem Time
Israel concerns of legal exposure in international criminal court
The Hebrew newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, said, on Thursday, that there is a state of concern in Israel about the possibility of accelerating the procedures in the International Criminal Court, and serious accusations against it of practicing the policy of apartheid in the West Bank.
According to the newspaper, senior officials and jurists specializing in international law have expressed their concern about this, especially after the statements of former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo that Israel practices apartheid in the West Bank, along with recent statements by right-wing government ministers, including statements by Itamar Ben Gvir about the right of Life for Israelis precedes the right of freedom of movement for Palestinians in the West Bank, and this only reinforces the hypothesis that Israel practices a policy of apartheid in the West Bank.
It is scheduled that the International Court of Justice in The Hague will soon publish a legal opinion on the legality of the occupation, while the International Criminal Court will investigate whether Israel is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
A senior Israeli political official attacked Pardo's statement, and said: "This is an exaggerated statement and gives space to Israel's enemies to attack it... The use of the word apartheid by a person who was the highest-ranking in the Israeli security apparatus causes us unnecessary harm, and we will pay the price for that in international legal courts." ...that is a totally unnecessary statement, and it's a shame to say."
The newspaper believes that Pardo's statements are not the only ones that will harm Israel, but rather the statements of the ministers of the current government, when he called on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to erase the village of Hawara, which comes under the powers granted to him related to civil administration and settlement, and the steps he is taking and viewed by the international community as an actual annexation. The West Bank aims to destroy the two-state solution.
And in the event that the Court of Justice in The Hague finds that Israel is practicing a long-term occupation in the West Bank, this will greatly complicate the situation from the legal point of view, and this may be considered an actual annexation of the West Bank, and this may entail clear international legal effects, including the imposition of sanctions on Israel And even put it into political isolation.
Israeli lawyers distributed messages on social networks warning soldiers serving in the West Bank not to travel abroad, for fear of being subjected to international legal prosecution and arrest in European countries and elsewhere on charges of war crimes.
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Israel concerns of legal exposure in international criminal court