Chicago – July 16, 2024
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the occupied West Bank if the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rules Israeli settlements illegal this week. “No one will move the people of Israel from their land,” Smotrich stated, according to the Times of Israel on Monday. The ICJ is expected to deliver a non-binding ruling on the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories on Friday.
Smotrich called on Netanyahu to make a historic decision by applying Israeli sovereignty to these territories if the ICJ rules against the settlements. The far-right minister also pledged to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state through extensive construction, settlement regulation, and road building, despite these actions being illegal under international law.
In February, fifty-two countries presented arguments at the ICJ about the legal consequences of Israel’s actions in the occupied territories. This followed a 2022 request by the UN General Assembly for an advisory opinion. Israel has occupied the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem since 1967. International law, supported by a 2005 ruling from Israel’s Supreme Court, prohibits an occupying power from relocating its citizens into occupied land.
