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The International Criminal Court's Flawed Decision to Recognize ICC Jurisdiction over the Territories

(Times of Israel) Alan Baker - It is both tragic and ironic that the State of Israel, one of the founding fathers of the vision of creating an independent International Criminal Court after the unimaginable atrocities committed against the Jewish People during the Holocaust, has now become the target of that very court, based on Palestinian political manipulation. Using legal acrobatics, the majority of judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber insist on attributing elements of statehood and sovereignty to a Palestinian entity that is distinctly, and by all international standards, not a state. Such entity has no sovereign territory, and thus, even according to the Statute of the ICC, cannot be the subject of the Court's jurisdiction. The Palestinians have absolutely no standing in the court and the decision defies all legal logic. What was intended to be an apolitical juridical body, devoid of political pressure and influence, has now permitted itself to become one more Israel-bashing body at the disposal of those elements in the international community seeking to undermine Israel's legitimacy. The writer, former legal adviser and deputy director-general of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, heads the International Law Program at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
2021-02-08 00:00:00
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