"Israel will protect Israelis who will be persecuted by the Hague Tribunal" | Israel Today

The Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs held a briefing after the decision of the Hague Tribunal announced that a legal team had been set up to deal with the issue • "The decision endangers normalization"

• Gabi Ashkenazi

  Photography: 

  Eyal Margolin / Ginny

Sources in the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said this evening (Friday) that the decision of the International Court of Justice in The Hague earlier today regarding Israel's investigation into the commission of war crimes is "learned".

The officials presented a bright spot in the decision, mentioning that it was given by a majority of two judges against one, and that the Hungarian judge, the head of the tribunal, legally justified his opposition to the move.

He opposes the most basic matter that the tribunal has territorial jurisdiction and this decision leaves an opening in the future for the issue of jurisdiction in various contexts.

The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also say that this is a decision in principle regarding authority, but there is still a long way to go before the plaintiff can advance investigative decisions.

Regarding the content of the decision itself, it was stated that the judges are based on political decisions made at the UN General Assembly in 2012 to accept the Palestinians as an observant state that is not a society. 

"For us, the decision is fundamentally wrong, it deviates from the mandate of the tribunal and is destructive for it, endangering the rare opportunity in the region based on the Abrahamic agreements and security coordination with the Palestinians and instead of a battle between the parties it writes between the parties." And was told that he had no authority to intervene in this matter legally. 

"The Palestinian Authority is not a sovereign state. The judges of the tribunal determined their determination by legal means. In the matter of territory, the parties agreed that the issue would be determined in negotiations between them. The parties even divided authority and agreed that the Palestinians have no authority in Area C or Jerusalem or Israelis. Incorrect settings. "

It was further stated that the Treaty of Rome itself provided that the tribunal was established to deal with the most severe atrocities that shock the spin-offs, but certainly it was not established to pursue non-member democracies in the tribunal with an independent and glorious judicial system.

"This decision turns the tribunal from a judicial institution into a political body. In light of the historic upheaval that has taken place here in the last six months, this decision also plays into extremism because it threatens to jeopardize the historic normalization agreements."

"The investigation has not yet been opened"

The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs want to make it clear that there is no immediate danger to any Israeli now and that the ball is back to the plaintiff and it is she who has to make the decision whether to open an investigation or not.

"This is not yet the opening of an investigation," it said.

Israel prepared for this decision through a large inter-ministerial team and it was known that it would be made in the coming months.

"We are preparing to provide protection to every Israeli citizen that the court will try to pursue a legal persecution. It should be understood that at this stage an investigation has not yet been opened and there is no immediate danger to any Israeli citizen, but things can develop later."

It was further stated that "this decision of the tribunal is a wrong decision, disappointing, and it rests mainly on political arguments and not legal arguments. We have clarified our legal position also in the memorandum of the Speaker.

The State of Israel is not a member state in the court and the Palestinian Authority is not a state.

The tribunal should not have taken jurisdiction in this matter.

The work that the tribunal has nevertheless chosen to take authority certainly teaches about following a particular political spirit and not about the legal channel.

"The State of Israel has an independent and strong judicial system. We can be proud of our legal system and the tribunal should act according to its principles and respect independent judicial systems. Only recently has the tribunal closed a case on British activity in Iraq based on legal activity conducted in Britain.

"The tribunal has been in a complex period. There are a lot of general criticisms of this tribunal. We are sure that any deal with the Israeli-Palestinian issue will not add anything good to the tribunal and in the end there are places in the world where war crimes are committed." At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Justice.