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Israel's Response to the UN General Assembly on the ICJ Fence Decision

(Israel's UN Mission; 16 July 2004) Ambassador Dan Gillerman - For years, if not decades, this Assembly has entertained the Palestinian representative's attempts to manufacture a virtual reality. An alternate world in which there is but one victim and one villain, in which there are Palestinian rights but no Palestinian responsibilities, in which there are Israeli responsibilities but no Israeli rights. This persistent campaign has contributed little to the credibility of the UN, and nothing to the cause of peace. With each successive partisan initiative we are left to wonder how can the UN contribute to the welfare of both peoples, if it sees the suffering of only one? The path to peace does not lie in The Hague or in New York, it lies in Ramallah and Gaza, from where the terrorism is directed. Israel has respect for the institution of the International Court of Justice and we believe in its ideals. We represent a people that knows all too well the cost of living in a society in which individuals are not protected by the balanced application of the rule of law. Israel's Supreme Court is probably the only court in the entire Middle East in which any Arab can challenge his own government's actions and be assured of justice, rather than jail. On June 30th, in response to one such petition, Israel's Supreme Court recognized Israel's authority to erect a fence as a defensive measure against terrorist attacks. The Supreme Court also affirmed that had the fence been built along the so-called "green line" - an arbitrary line that has never served as an international border - that itself would have been evidence that the route was being determined by inappropriate political considerations rather than justifiable security ones. At the same time, the Israeli Supreme Court stressed that the fence must be carefully balanced against the rights of those affected by it. The court laid out a detailed proportionality test by which such a balance could be reached, and went on to find, by reference to that test, that sections of the fence required rerouting. We are not impressed by lectures from Palestinian spokesmen about respect for the rule of law. We have all witnessed first hand the extent of the Palestinian leadership's respect for law in its support for a brutal campaign of terrorism that violates every basic legal norm. We have learned of their concern for human rights and humanitarian law, when rejoicing over the murder of innocent citizens in terrorist attacks, not only in Israel but around the world, or when plundering international donor money intended to benefit their own people. The terrorism that made the fence necessary is not only a grave violation of international law, it is the enemy of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, and its eradication is an indispensable step to lasting peace. By closing the avenues to terror, we can open the path to peace. The barrier between Israelis and Palestinians is not the security fence, but the terrorism that made it necessary.
2004-07-19 00:00:00
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