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The Status of "Palestine" at the UN

(Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University) Oded Eran and Robbie Sabel - Rather than having to negotiate the question of statehood with Israel, the Palestinians hope to acquire this status at the UN on Nov. 29, supported widely by the international community, without the need to negotiate with Israel or concede anything to Israel. In a speech on Nov. 11, Mahmoud Abbas explained that the appeal to the UN is aimed in part to remove the basis for Israel's claim that the territory of the West Bank is contested, and to establish that it is occupied territory. If Palestine were to accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court at The Hague, it would mean that all Palestinians, including presumably those of Gaza, who would commit a war crime in the future could find themselves subject to the jurisdiction of the Court. It is noteworthy that no Arab states, other than Jordan and recently Tunisia, have accepted the jurisdiction of the Court. Dr. Oded Eran, Director of INSS, was Israel's Ambassador to Jordan and to the EU and Head of Israel's negotiations team with the Palestinians, 1999-2000. Prof. Robbie Sabel teaches international law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was the Legal Advisor of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2012-11-26 00:00:00
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