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Deflating the Threat Posed by the International Criminal Court

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch - Experience has shown that the International Criminal Court (ICC), in its efforts to appease the Palestinians and vilify Israel, has been willing to disregard facts and the law and even make decisions lacking any jurisdiction. The prosecutor and the court have been willing to adopt factual and legal positions devoid of any basis, recognizing a state that does not exist and inventing its geographical territory, in explicit contradiction of multiple legally binding documents. Petitioning the UN to admit "Palestine" as a state is a fundamental breach of the Oslo Accords since it would have prejudged the outcome of the negotiations. Joining the ICC as a means to attack and delegitimize Israel further compounded the breach. As part of the Oslo Accords, Israel agreed to waive substantial tax income in favor of the newly created PA. According to the agreements, Israel collects the tax income on behalf of the PA and transfers it every month. The PA income from these taxes rose from 4.8 billion shekels in 2010 to 11.3 billion shekels in 2022. From 2016 through 2022, the taxes collected by Israel accounted for 75%-79% of the PA's annual tax revenue. While Israel waived the income so that the PA would use the funds to further the goals of the Oslo Accords for the benefit of the Palestinians and to prevent incitement to terror and violence and combat terror, in practice, the PLO/PA uses the funds to bankroll all of its practices that breach the Oslo Accords. From the outset, the PLO/PA has breached every single one of the commitments it made in the Oslo Accords. Yet Israel has continued to collect and transfer billions of shekels a year to the PLO/PA. Every month, Israel pays the PLO/PA for peace. Every month, the PLO/PA responds with terror and violence. Israel should give the PLO/PA an ultimatum: choose adherence to the Oslo Accords and their ensuing funds from Israel or choose unilateralism, the UN, and the ICC, and lose all the funds from Israel. Israel cannot be expected to continue funding its own demise. The writer served for 19 years in the IDF Military Advocate General Corps and was director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria.
2024-05-09 00:00:00
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