Israel slams Palestinians cynical and hypocritical ICC membership

“Israels position, like that of other nations like the US and Canada, is that the Palestinians are not entitled to join the ICC, and that the court does not have the authority to accept them, first and foremost because a Palestinian state is not recognized according to international law,” the foreign ministry said. Israel further slammed the Palestinians, saying that “The government of the Palestinian Authority, which is associated with the deadly terrorist Hamas committing war crimes… is the last to be able to threaten legal action” before the court. Unilateral Palestinian actions such as joining the ICC are “violations of the principles established between the two parties with the support of the international community to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” it added. The Palestinians officially joined the International Criminal Court at The Hague on Wednesday, a move initiated by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after the failure of the US-brokered peace talks last year.  Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki was meeting with court officials Wednesday, in a move that was largely ceremonial. Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said Monday that the ICC had already begun a preliminary examination of alleged Israeli crimes.

 

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