(Ha'aretz) Aluf Benn, Nathan Guttman, and Arnon Regular - Fifteen EU members and 10 members-in-waiting, as well as the U.S., Canada, Russia, South Africa, and Cameroon, joined Israel in submitting affidavits to the ICJ against the authority of the court to rule on the fence. Israel's 131-page affidavit, written by international law expert Prof. Daniel Bethlehem, states that the international court has no authority to discuss the fence because the process leading to the UN resolution mandating it to do so was flawed. The affidavit also rejected the "propriety" of the process, noting that the issue of the fence is a political one, not a judicial one, and that discussing it will undermine efforts for a political resolution. It should also reject the case because the Palestinian appeal to the court was politically motivated. Israel presented the threat of Palestinian terror as the factor leading to the decision to build the fence.
2004-02-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive