Some 100 legal experts from Israel and around the world sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, in which they assert that ignoring Israel's claims with respect to its plan to extend sovereignty to large parts of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley is "wrong and intellectually dishonest." The move, they wrote, is not contrary to international law.
The controversial sovereignty bid was introduced as part of the US's Middle East peace plan, rolled out in January, and envisions applying Israeli law to about 30% of Judea and Samaria.
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The plan has met fierce objections from the Palestinian Authority, which warned pushing it through would essentially render the 1993 Oslo Accords – the basis for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process – null and void. The United Nations and European Union have also warned Israeli against moving ahead with its plan, saying it was in violation of international law and would all but doom the already moribund regional peace process.
The letter, penned by members of the International Legal Forum, stated that "the sovereign status of the West Bank has been controversial for a long time. Alongside the school of thought arguing that the Palestinian state has sovereignty over the West Bank, there is also a school of thought asserting that Israel actually has legal territorial sovereignty in the West Bank."
The question of who is sovereign over Judea and Samaria is political rather than a legal issue, the letter continues.
"The claims that the application of Israel's law, jurisdiction and administration over the territories is akin to 'unilateral annexation' that will result in 'international injustice' are deceptive and bias. Deciding the legality of such policy while ignoring the claims of one party [Israel], is "wrong and intellectually dishonest."
The International Legal Forum is "a nonprofit, proactive legal hub for more than 3,000 lawyers, organizations and activists from all over the world, who participate in the legal battle against terror, anti-Semitism, and the BDS movement," according to its website.
ILF Founder and Director Adv. Yifa Segal told Israel Hayom that "it's time to once and for all set the difference between political discourse and legal discourse. Israel is not violating international law by pursuing the sovereignty plan."
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