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talkpoliticsPalestinians present ICC membership request to UN
The old bluff, it turns out, was no bluff at all. On the last day of last year, the Palestinian autonomy officially requested membership at the International Criminal Court, and the UN Secretary General Ban Kim Moon announced that they would be joining that institution in April. Looks like a risky move, because it will inevitably increase the tensions with Israel, since that status would allow the Palestinians to sue Israeli citizens for war crimes.
Still, the Palestinians must be tired at this point, and devoid of other options. They have already requested an investigation of all purported Israeli crimes since last June, which includes the Israeli military campaign against Gaza from last summer. But that also potentially makes them vulnerable to the same charges. The US, in turn, are expectedly critical of these steps of the autonomy. And the analysts are debating whether this course of action would ultimately increase or undermine the success of the Palestinian cause, the creation of an independent sovereign state.
The application for ICC membership came after the UN Security Council rejected a draft resolution that was supposed to put "an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories within three years". The chances of the document passing were very slim anyway, since the US would definitely veto it. But it seems that only reinforced the determination of the Palestinians to join the UCC. The Hague-based institution was created to prosecute people for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. A possible membership there is part of a broader strategy of the Palestinians to put pressure on Israel. In turn, Mahmoud Abbas is being pressured at home to take firmer actions against Israel, after another Israeli military occupation of Gaza, the tensions around Jerusalem, and America's umpteenth failure at the negotiation table. He is hoping that this move would improve his position among his constituents. But his actions seem like a desperate step of a leader who is struggling to stay legitimate, so they might be intended to have a symbolic rather than real effect.
The Palestinians are demonstrating confidence that the investigation will point to the Israeli side as the culprit, and not them. After two decades of negotiations, all they can see is one failure after another, and the situation only deteriorating. So they only have three choices left: to use violence, to do nothing and wait for the Americans and Europeans to deign them some help, which is obviously not happening, or to use the legitimate tools of international law and diplomacy. So they have opted for the latter. The question they might be asking themselves is not why they are doing it, but why they have waited so long to do it.
Of course, things are looking quite different from an Israeli perspective. They are seeing this as a direct confrontation to the Israeli position, which seems to be that while there is still room for negotiations, such steps of defiance should not be done. And it will certainly affect Israel's attitude to the Palestinians. The Palestinian authorities are trying to deligitimise and isolate Israel on the international scene, while in the same time, together with Hamas, urging their population to resort to violence. For example, the Hamas radicals have recently published an online booklet with tips about stabbing Jews without getting caught.
Even before the Palestinian official request for ICC membership, Israel was threatening that it would take measures in retaliation, and accelerate the construction of the Israeli settlements (considered illegitimate by international law), and cancel all peaceful negotiations. Now Netanyahu has frozen the payment of the 127 million dollars of taxes that Israel has collected in December on behalf of the Palestinians. This constitutes 2/3 of the monthly budget of Abbas' administration, and they desperately need that money to keep functioning and paying the salaries of the public employees. The US is criticising this step, but has also commented that Palestine's joining the ICC would be "counterproductive, and would in no way help them fulfill their dreams for a sovereign and independent state". Republican senator Lindsey Graham has warned that the autonomy could lose "millions of dollars of essential US aid" (about 400 million annually) if it decides to take Israel to court. The US is opposed to any unilateral actions that would undermine diplomacy, because they believe the solution of the Israeli-Palestinian question could only be achieved through mutual negotiations. Except, for the last few years these have achieved little to no success, and things are yet again stuck in a dead end.
Now that the Palestinians have taken that step, the question is what could they possibly do within that institution. Last week the ICC started a preliminary investigation for possible war crimes on Palestinian territory, which essentially is the first step that could lead to pressing charges both against Israelis and Palestinians. The Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has called this decision "scandalous" and has said that its only goal is "to undermine his country's efforts to defend itself". Israel is practically not a member of the ICC, but in theory, Israeli citizens could be prosecuted for war crimes commited on Palestinian territory. The court does not have a police of its own and relies on cooperation from the separate states in detaining suspects and enforcing its decisions. Netanyahu has already declared that he will defend the Israeli military, but he is concerned that members of the Israeli military traveling abroad could be subject to detention.
The Israeli-Palestinian case will not be easy for the ICC, which in the past has encountered difficulty with investigating politically controversial cases. Israel could dispute its legitimacy at any stage of the investigation, and the veracity of the evidence. Meanwhile, the Palestinians are hoping to be able to prosecute every Israeli who is accused of occupying their territory, including through the construction of settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. Besides, they are accusing Israel of having commited war crimes during its operation against Hamas in Gaza from last summer, where 2,100 Palestinians died, mostly civilians (67 military personnel and 6 civilians died on the Israeli side). But conducting such an investigation could take years, the latest such example being in Africa, where similar cases are being put on hold in Kenya and Sudan. The experts are pointing out the fact that so far the ICC has only been able to prosecute secondary African rebel leaders and nothing more. There is also the real possibility of pressing charges against Palestinian Hamas members for having launched rockets against Israeli civilian areas.
More importantly, the Palestinian cause is gaining momentum in the EU, where the discontent with the lack of progress on the case continues to grow. Last month, the European parliament overwhelmingly supported "in principle" the recognition of Palestinian statehood and the two-state solution. Although that vote has no legal weight, it is still a very strong message. For the last few months, similar non-binding votes were done in the national parliaments of the UK, Ireland, Spain and France. Sweden went even further, officially recognising the state of Palestine. All of these actions might not necessarily push the Palestinian cause forward, unless its leaders implement a strategy for ending the Israeli impunity. The ICC membership for Palestine could make Israel more cautious in the future, but it will not give the Palestinians a state. The question is if Israel would conclude they can no longer keep violating international law, because now there will be a possibility of paying a price for that.
Much will depent on who the next ruler of Israel will be after the snap election in March, which was called because of internal rifts between some of the key partners in the ruling conservative coalition. If Netanyahu retains the reins, but this time in alliance with the ultra-Orthodox Jews instead of the centrist secular forces, the peace process would again likely be postponed for the time being.
The old bluff, it turns out, was no bluff at all. On the last day of last year, the Palestinian autonomy officially requested membership at the International Criminal Court, and the UN Secretary General Ban Kim Moon announced that they would be joining that institution in April. Looks like a risky move, because it will inevitably increase the tensions with Israel, since that status would allow the Palestinians to sue Israeli citizens for war crimes.
Still, the Palestinians must be tired at this point, and devoid of other options. They have already requested an investigation of all purported Israeli crimes since last June, which includes the Israeli military campaign against Gaza from last summer. But that also potentially makes them vulnerable to the same charges. The US, in turn, are expectedly critical of these steps of the autonomy. And the analysts are debating whether this course of action would ultimately increase or undermine the success of the Palestinian cause, the creation of an independent sovereign state.
The application for ICC membership came after the UN Security Council rejected a draft resolution that was supposed to put "an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories within three years". The chances of the document passing were very slim anyway, since the US would definitely veto it. But it seems that only reinforced the determination of the Palestinians to join the UCC. The Hague-based institution was created to prosecute people for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. A possible membership there is part of a broader strategy of the Palestinians to put pressure on Israel. In turn, Mahmoud Abbas is being pressured at home to take firmer actions against Israel, after another Israeli military occupation of Gaza, the tensions around Jerusalem, and America's umpteenth failure at the negotiation table. He is hoping that this move would improve his position among his constituents. But his actions seem like a desperate step of a leader who is struggling to stay legitimate, so they might be intended to have a symbolic rather than real effect.
The Palestinians are demonstrating confidence that the investigation will point to the Israeli side as the culprit, and not them. After two decades of negotiations, all they can see is one failure after another, and the situation only deteriorating. So they only have three choices left: to use violence, to do nothing and wait for the Americans and Europeans to deign them some help, which is obviously not happening, or to use the legitimate tools of international law and diplomacy. So they have opted for the latter. The question they might be asking themselves is not why they are doing it, but why they have waited so long to do it.
Of course, things are looking quite different from an Israeli perspective. They are seeing this as a direct confrontation to the Israeli position, which seems to be that while there is still room for negotiations, such steps of defiance should not be done. And it will certainly affect Israel's attitude to the Palestinians. The Palestinian authorities are trying to deligitimise and isolate Israel on the international scene, while in the same time, together with Hamas, urging their population to resort to violence. For example, the Hamas radicals have recently published an online booklet with tips about stabbing Jews without getting caught.
Even before the Palestinian official request for ICC membership, Israel was threatening that it would take measures in retaliation, and accelerate the construction of the Israeli settlements (considered illegitimate by international law), and cancel all peaceful negotiations. Now Netanyahu has frozen the payment of the 127 million dollars of taxes that Israel has collected in December on behalf of the Palestinians. This constitutes 2/3 of the monthly budget of Abbas' administration, and they desperately need that money to keep functioning and paying the salaries of the public employees. The US is criticising this step, but has also commented that Palestine's joining the ICC would be "counterproductive, and would in no way help them fulfill their dreams for a sovereign and independent state". Republican senator Lindsey Graham has warned that the autonomy could lose "millions of dollars of essential US aid" (about 400 million annually) if it decides to take Israel to court. The US is opposed to any unilateral actions that would undermine diplomacy, because they believe the solution of the Israeli-Palestinian question could only be achieved through mutual negotiations. Except, for the last few years these have achieved little to no success, and things are yet again stuck in a dead end.
Now that the Palestinians have taken that step, the question is what could they possibly do within that institution. Last week the ICC started a preliminary investigation for possible war crimes on Palestinian territory, which essentially is the first step that could lead to pressing charges both against Israelis and Palestinians. The Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has called this decision "scandalous" and has said that its only goal is "to undermine his country's efforts to defend itself". Israel is practically not a member of the ICC, but in theory, Israeli citizens could be prosecuted for war crimes commited on Palestinian territory. The court does not have a police of its own and relies on cooperation from the separate states in detaining suspects and enforcing its decisions. Netanyahu has already declared that he will defend the Israeli military, but he is concerned that members of the Israeli military traveling abroad could be subject to detention.
The Israeli-Palestinian case will not be easy for the ICC, which in the past has encountered difficulty with investigating politically controversial cases. Israel could dispute its legitimacy at any stage of the investigation, and the veracity of the evidence. Meanwhile, the Palestinians are hoping to be able to prosecute every Israeli who is accused of occupying their territory, including through the construction of settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. Besides, they are accusing Israel of having commited war crimes during its operation against Hamas in Gaza from last summer, where 2,100 Palestinians died, mostly civilians (67 military personnel and 6 civilians died on the Israeli side). But conducting such an investigation could take years, the latest such example being in Africa, where similar cases are being put on hold in Kenya and Sudan. The experts are pointing out the fact that so far the ICC has only been able to prosecute secondary African rebel leaders and nothing more. There is also the real possibility of pressing charges against Palestinian Hamas members for having launched rockets against Israeli civilian areas.
More importantly, the Palestinian cause is gaining momentum in the EU, where the discontent with the lack of progress on the case continues to grow. Last month, the European parliament overwhelmingly supported "in principle" the recognition of Palestinian statehood and the two-state solution. Although that vote has no legal weight, it is still a very strong message. For the last few months, similar non-binding votes were done in the national parliaments of the UK, Ireland, Spain and France. Sweden went even further, officially recognising the state of Palestine. All of these actions might not necessarily push the Palestinian cause forward, unless its leaders implement a strategy for ending the Israeli impunity. The ICC membership for Palestine could make Israel more cautious in the future, but it will not give the Palestinians a state. The question is if Israel would conclude they can no longer keep violating international law, because now there will be a possibility of paying a price for that.
Much will depent on who the next ruler of Israel will be after the snap election in March, which was called because of internal rifts between some of the key partners in the ruling conservative coalition. If Netanyahu retains the reins, but this time in alliance with the ultra-Orthodox Jews instead of the centrist secular forces, the peace process would again likely be postponed for the time being.
