Israel rejects the new process in the ICJ for being “a prize for terrorism”

November 12 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The outgoing prime minister of Israel, Yair Lapid, has expressed this Saturday his rejection of the request of a commission of the UN General Assembly to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to evaluate the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories by consider it a “prize for terrorism”.

“The Palestinians want to replace the negotiations with unilateral steps. Once again they use the United Nations to attack Israel,” Lapid said, according to the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’, while warning that with this initiative “no it will not change the reality or help the Palestinian people in any way” and “it may even result in an escalation” and be “a reward for terrorism”.

Lapid has underlined the “unilateral” nature of the initiative. “This is a new unilateral Palestinian act that undermines the basic principles for resolving the conflict and could damage the chances of a future process,” he added.

He also thanked the countries that have voted against the resolution and also those that abstained. Those who did support it have been asked to “reconsider their position and speak out against it when it is voted on in the General Assembly.”

On Thursday the Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly voted in favor of the initiative “Israeli Practices and Settlement Activities Affecting the Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs in the Occupied Territories” by a margin of 98, 17 against and 52 abstentions.

The text calls for an opinion on the consequences of the violation of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination by Israel with the occupation, colonization and annexation of Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.

Likewise, the text says that the ICJ must investigate Israeli measures “aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem”, as well as “discriminatory legislation and measures” against the Palestinian people.