Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit on Tuesday slammed the International Criminal Court over its decision to investigate Israel for alleged war crimes, saying that it has no authority over the Jewish state.
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In a 2-1 ruling delivered Friday, the pretrial chamber of the ICC determined that The Hague has jurisdiction to open criminal investigations against Israel and the Hamas terrorist group for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem.
Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, from which the International Criminal Court draws its power. The Palestinian Authority joined in in 2015, with the explicit intention of pursuing action against Israeli officials.
"As according to international law there is no such thing as the 'state of Palestine' this [decision] poses no immediate threat to any Israel," he said.
Still, Mendelblit stressed that Israel was "preparing for the event of an investigation."
He further said that the ICC's decision was "regrettable, especially since the president of the partial chamber, who was in the minority opinion, sees things as we do – according to international law there is no state of Palestine. Eight other countries that support our position had said the same, as have international law experts.
Mendelblit expaliend that "According to the Oslo Accords [on which the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is based], there is no such thing as a Palestine state – it has borders and has no jurisdiction over Israelis.
"The International Criminal Court was formed to fight atrocities worldwide. The State of Israel does not commit atrocities. We have rules of war, and our exemplary judiciary is world renowned. Issuing this ruling in regards to Israel of all countries – it's very odd," he noted.
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