The re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sharply criticizes the UN decision that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, which has lasted since 1967, should be reviewed by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Benjamin Netanyahu during his swearing-in as Prime Minister of Israel.
(dpa) The re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted sharply to the United Nations decision on Saturday evening: “Like hundreds of other perverse resolutions by the UN General Assembly against Israel, today’s resolution will not bind the Israeli government. The Jewish people do not occupy their land nor occupy their eternal capital, Jerusalem.
87 countries of the UN General Assembly voted for and 26 against the decision on Friday, more than 50 abstained. The UN General Assembly called on the court in The Hague to examine Israel’s “continued occupation, settlement and annexation of Palestinian territories”.
“Anti-Israel Decision”
The new Israeli foreign minister, Eli Cohen, also spoke of an “anti-Israeli decision that provides support to terrorist organizations and the anti-Semitic boycott movement BDS”.
The Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtaje, on the other hand, spoke of a “new victory for the Palestinian people and their just cause on the way to freedom and national independence”.
Over 600,000 Israeli settlers
Israel’s settlement policy is very controversial. At the end of 2016, the UN Security Council called on Israel to completely stop settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the annexed East Jerusalem.
In 1967, Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among others. More than 600,000 Israeli settlers live there today. The Palestinians claim the territories for an independent state of Palestine with the Arab-influenced eastern part of Jerusalem as the capital. Israel, on the other hand, sees no breach of the law in its settlement policy.