Daily Alert Archives

Israel's Rights in the Territories under International Law

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Amb. Alan Baker - International law defines "occupation" as one power occupying the lands of a foreign sovereign, but Israel is not occupying any foreign sovereign's land. Israel entered the area known as the West Bank in 1967 and took over the authority to administer the land from Jordan, which was never considered to be a sovereign in the area. In actual fact, Israel and the Jewish people have got claims to the area that go far back into history. Therefore, Israel considers the territories not to be Palestinian, but as in dispute. Israel is committed to conduct negotiations with the Palestinians in order to find a permanent settlement to the issue. The international community's constant referral to the "Palestinian territories" is a complete fallacy and has absolutely no legal or political basis. There's no international agreement that determines that the territories belong to the Palestinians. In the Oslo agreement, the Palestinians acknowledge the fact that the ultimate permanent status of the territory is to be determined by negotiations. The Palestinians have agreed that the issue of settlements is one of the issues on the permanent status negotiating table. Therefore, anybody who claims that Israel's settlements are illegitimate is prejudging an issue which is to be negotiated by the parties. Thus, nobody can claim that the settlements are illegitimate or illegal. The writer, former legal adviser and deputy director-general of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, participated in the negotiation and drafting of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians, as well as agreements and peace treaties with Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon.
2016-09-08 00:00:00
Full Article