(Israel Hayom) Shlomo Cesana and Mati Tuchfeld - In a major, and rare, victory for Israel, the ICC in The Hague ruled that it could not judge cases involving the West Bank and Gaza. The ruling was a blow to the Palestinian Authority, which had submitted a lawsuit against Israeli officials in 2009 over alleged "war crimes" committed during the IDF's incursion into Gaza in 2008-9. The only Israeli to testify before the court was Dr. Dore Gold, Israel's former ambassador to the UN and the head of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Israel is not a signatory to the international court's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, and cannot provide testimony in the court in an official capacity. Gold noted: "The ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague proves that Israel does not have to surrender in advance every time the Palestinian Authority takes its grievances to an international body. We can defend Israel's vital interests and even gain international support in the process."
2012-04-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive