Israel’s outgoing Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, on Saturday expressed his rejection of the request of a UN General Assembly committee to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to evaluate the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories as a «reward for terrorism».
«The Palestinians want to replace negotiations with unilateral steps. Once again they are using the United Nations to attack Israel», said Lapid, according to the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’, while warning that this initiative «will not change the reality or help the Palestinian people in any way» and «may even result in an escalation» and be «a reward for terrorism».
Lapid stressed the «unilateral» nature of the initiative. «This is a new Palestinian unilateral act that undermines the basic principles of resolving the conflict and could damage the chances of a future process,» he added.
He also thanked the countries that voted against the resolution and those that abstained. To those who did support it, he asked them 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 of the Occupied Territories» by a margin of 98 in favor, 17 against and 52 abstentions.
The text asks for an opinion on the consequences of Israel’s violation of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination through its occupation, colonization and annexation of Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
The text also states that the ICJ should 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.
