The News
The International Court of Justice said in a landmark opinion Friday that Israel’s settlement policies in the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem were illegal, and called for its presence to end “as rapidly as possible.”
It’s the first time the world’s highest court has made its position clear on a yearslong subject of contention at the United Nations, The New York Times reported. The UN court said Israeli actions in the occupied areas amounted to “de-facto annexation,” adding that Gaza is also effectively occupied by Israel due to its control over the enclave’s borders and “restrictions of goods and people.”
While the court’s opinion is only advisory and non-legally binding, it is seen as significantly symbolic.
SIGNALS
The opinion could prove ‘radioactive’ on the international stage
While Israeli lawmakers dismissed the court as “antisemitic,” some experts believe the ruling could make Western countries like Germany, which are “committed to international law,” reconsider their economic and defense ties to Israel. “Dealing with Israeli practice in the occupied territory might become radioactive in international relations,” a law expert told Turkey’s state-run outlet Al Anadolu. Another told DW that it could affect national courts and the European Court of Justice, if it meant that occupied East Jerusalem could no longer be incorporated in trade deals between the EU and Israel. The ruling could also “strengthen the hand” of Palestinian-led boycott and divestment movements, a Hague-based think tank researcher told The Associated Press.
Israel has largely enjoyed a ‘free ride in foreign relations’
Confrontation with international courts shores up support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s base, “who are convinced that the world is working to harm Israel,” a Chatham House expert wrote earlier this year. A Tel Aviv-based political analyst argued in Haaretz that contrary to the decades-old narrative that Israel is singled out for actions other countries get away with, Israel actually enjoys “a free ride in its foreign relations.” While Western governments default to imposing sanctions against states perceived to be security threats, Israel has avoided those kinds of official, multilateral sanctions, a Middle East scholar told Haaretz.
War in Gaza has distracted from increasing settler violence in the West Bank
Israeli land seizures in the occupied West Bank reached a 30-year high this year, according to Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now. While the world’s attention has been on war in Gaza, the West Bank has suffered surging settler violence, increasing military raids, and stifling economic pressures, the Financial Times wrote, further undermining the already limited self-governance of the Palestinian Authority.