ICC must be allowed to carry out work ‘without intimidation’, say 93 member states

The Guardian, Harry Davies, Sat 15 Jun 2024

Joint statement of support for international criminal court issued following revelations of Israeli interference 

The international criminal court has been the subject of efforts by Israel and its intelligence
agencies to undermine, influence and intimidate. Photograph: Peter Dejong/AP

The international criminal court must be allowed to carry out its work “without intimidation”, a group of 93 states has said in a significant public intervention intended to reinforce support for the judicial body. 

In a joint statement issued late on Friday issued late on Friday, the large group of ICC member states vowed to defend the institution and “preserve its integrity from any political interference and pressure against the court, its officials and those cooperating with it”. 

The show of unity for the court and its staff comes in the wake of revelations published by the Guardian about efforts by Israel and its intelligence agencies to undermine, influence and intimidate the court as part of a nine-year campaign of surveillance and espionage. 

It also follows recent warnings by the office of the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, that it has been subjected to “several forms of threats” and hostile intelligence activity apparently intended to interfere with and improperly influence the prosecutor’s work. 

Last month, Khan announced that he has filed applications for arrest warrants against senior Hamas and Israeli officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity, which he alleged had been committed during Hamas’s 7 October attack and the ensuing war in Gaza. 

Khan’s decision to seek arrest warrants against Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and defence minister, Yoav Gallant, is the first time an ICC prosecutor has taken such action against the leaders of a close western ally. The move provoked a fierce response from Israel and its allies in the US. 

The statement supporting the ICC was drafted by five of the court’s member states – Belgium, Chile, Jordan, Senegal and Slovenia – and is understood to have been presented to the rest of the court’s state parties last week for their endorsement. 

A diplomatic source familiar with the effort said the disclosures about Israeli intelligence operations against the court had been “really eye-opening for a lot of diplomats” and “made some realise that it’s time to put out some sort of statement from the states that belong to the court responding to what has now come to light”. 

However, they said the statement was also a response to other recent forms of hostile activity against the ICC, such as a cyber-attack last year, and came as the prosecutor is conducting an investigation into senior Russian political and military figures allegedly involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. 

“The court is going after some very powerful people, not just in the Palestine investigation, and it’s time to send a message that the state parties are there to defend it,” the source said. 

Longtime ICC observers said it was notable that major western powers such as Germany, France, Canada and the UK had supported the statement, which called on “all states to ensure full cooperation with the court for it to carry out its important mandate”. 

They also pointed to the large number of endorsing states – 93 of the ICC’s 124 members – and noted that previous statements rallying around the court had not garnered as much support. 

“This is a unique moment of international solidarity, with 93 ICC states parties standing up for global justice and accountability for mass atrocities,” Danya Chaikel, the International Federation for Human Rights’s representative to the ICC, said. 

“They are collectively opposing the egregious threats to the court from powerful countries including Israel, the US and Russia, and strongly rejecting their efforts to manipulate the rule of law for political gains,” she added.

Zelensky tells UN to 'act immediately' on Russia or close

Yahoo – AFP, Philippe RATER, April 5, 2022

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, addresses a meeting of the United Nations Security
Councilin New York City on April 5, 2022 (AFP/TIMOTHY A. CLARY) (TIMOTHY A. CLARY)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky challenged the United Nations to "act immediately" or "dissolve yourself altogether" during a blistering address Tuesday in which he showed harrowing footage of dead bodies -- including children -- he said were victims of Russian atrocities. 

Likening Russia's actions in Bucha and other Ukrainian cities to violence carried out by "terrorists" such as the Islamic State group, Zelensky called on the 15-member Security Council -- which aims to ensure international peace and security -- to expel Russia "so it cannot block decisions about its own aggression, its own war." 

Russia, as one of the five permanent members of the Council, has a veto, which it has repeatedly wielded to block resolutions and negotiations on the global stage. 

That means it cannot be expelled from the body, as it would simply veto any vote or recommendation by the Security Council to do so. 

"If there is no alternative ... then the next option would be dissolve yourself altogether," Zelensky continued. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to close the UN? ... If your answer is no, then you need to act immediately." 

Bearded and dressed in his now trademark military green T-shirt, Zelensky, speaking remotely from Kyiv, gave a chilling rendition of the atrocities he said were carried out by Russian troops against civilians in Bucha, a town outside the Ukrainian capital. 

Bucha had been occupied by Russian troops, but when they withdrew recently Ukrainian authorities and independent international journalists including AFP found bodies of people in civilian clothing, some with their hands tied behind their backs. 

Zelensky aired a graphic, 90-second clip of what he said were images from towns including Bucha and the southern port of Mariupol. 

The footage showed partially uncovered dead people, including children, in shallow graves, several bodies in a courtyard and dead people with hands tied behind their back slumped towards a wall. 

"Now the world can see what the Russian military did in Bucha," Zelensky said. 

"They were killed in their apartments, houses, blowing up grenades, civilians were crushed by tanks while sitting in their cars in the middle of the road, just for their pleasure. They cut off limbs... slashed their throats," he said. 

"Women were raped and killed in front of their children, their tongues were pulled out only because the aggressors did not hear what they wanted to hear from them. 

"This is no different from other terrorists such as Daesh ... and here it is done by a member of the United Nations Security Council," he said, using another acronym for the Islamic State group. 

"Accountability must be inevitable," he said, claiming that "hundreds of thousands" of Ukrainians had also been deported to Russia. 

Moments later Russia's ambassador, in his own comments, rejected the claims entirely. 

'No witnesses' 

Addressing his remarks directly to Zelensky, Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow places "on your conscience the ungrounded accusations against the Russian military, which are not confirmed by any eye witnesses." 

At least one witness has told AFP of watching Russian soldiers shoot a man in cold blood in Bucha. 

Russia has claimed that images presented by Ukrainian authorities to show there had been a massacre in Bucha were fake, or that the deaths occurred after Russian soldiers pulled out of the areas.

 It has not offered evidence, and satellite imagery has shown bodies there for weeks, before Moscow withdrew its troops from the town. 

Nevertheless Nebenzia repeated those claims, telling the council: "You only saw what they showed you. You couldn't ignore the flagrant inconsistencies in the version of events which are being promoted by Ukrainian and Western media." 

He also denied Zelensky's allegation of mass deportations. 

Since the invasion began "over 600,000 people have been evacuated to Russia, including over 119,000 children," Nebenzia told the body. 

He said the evacuations were "voluntary," not "coercion or abduction." 

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, sparking outrage across the world and displacing millions of Ukrainians.

Palestinians ask UN court to revoke US Jerusalem embassy move

Yahoo – AFP, September 29, 2018

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki (pictured June 2018) said that
Palestinians have filed a lawsuit against the United States at the International
Court of Justice for moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem (AFP Photo/
Yasser Al-Zayyat)

Jerusalem (AFP) - Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said Saturday the Palestinians have petitioned the UN's top court, alleging that the US inauguration of an embassy in Jerusalem was illegal.

The Palestinians have filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) "for violating international law by moving its embassy in Israel to the occupied city of Jerusalem", he said, quoted by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

In December, US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite Palestinian claims on part of the city and breaking with longstanding US policy.

Palestinians have since refused all contact with the Trump administration.

The US embassy was transferred from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14, a day marked by mass protest in the Gaza Strip, where about 60 Palestinian protesters were killed by Israeli fire in border clashes.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem along with the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War and later declared the entire city its united capital.

Palestinians claim the predominantly Arab eastern area as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

UN resolutions call on countries to refrain from moving their embassies to the city until its status is resolved in an Israeli-Palestinian deal.

"The ICJ was asked to declare that moving the embassy to occupied Jerusalem constituted a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," WAFA wrote in English.

The court said the Palestinian suit, filed on Friday, called on the body "to order the United States of America to withdraw the diplomatic mission from the Holy City of Jerusalem and to conform to the international obligations flowing from the Vienna Convention".

An official of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) said it was the first time Palestinians had petitioned the court against the United States.

In November 2012, the UN General Assembly recognised the Palestinian Authority as a "non-member observer state".

This allowed the Palestinians to join UN bodies such as the ICJ and also the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is a separate institution.

Previously, the Palestinians had asked the UN General Assembly to seek a ruling on their behalf over Israel's West Bank separation barrier.

In 2004, the court issued a non-binding ruling that the network of walls and fences was illegal and called for sections to be dismantled.

Israel said it had no intention of complying.

The ICC was set up in 2002 with jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the world's worst crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Neither the United States nor Israel are signatories to the ICC.

Earlier this month, Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians had filed a petition there against Israel over its pending demolition of the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank.

They have previously filed suit to the ICC claiming Israeli war crimes in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

The Netherlands to press for more UN action against human traffickers

DutchNews, September 25, 2018

The Netherlands is working to establish an international network of diplomats and law enforcement agencies to locate the financial assets of human traffickers more quickly and encourage countries to freeze them, foreign minister Stef Blok told a meeting in New York on Monday. 

The Netherlands, Niger and Libya organised an international ministers’ conference in New York to focus on efforts to stamp out human trafficking ahead of this week’s UN Security Council meeting. 

The Security Council decision in June to impose sanctions on six human traffickers in Libya – which involved freezing their assets and banning them from crossing borders – is only the start, Blok said in a speech at the opening of the conference.

‘To make these measures truly bite, we need to realise that their adoption was only the start. A first step. The real work starts now,’ Blok said. 

‘The positive impact of the new measures lies partially in their deterrent effect. We know these individuals feel that they’ve been exposed, and backed into a corner. Other human traffickers are now feeling the pressure too. Their business model has suddenly dropped in value.’ 

Three key areas

The Netherlands, Blok said, wants to focus on three key areas: hunting down financial assets, expanding the sanctions list and replicating similar initiatives in other areas.

‘One example is the sanctions regime for Mali, which now enables specific targeting of those who engage in human trafficking and migrant smuggling,’ Blok said. 

Blok said the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague is already investigating whether human trafficking falls within the remit of the court. 

‘Several European countries, including my own, are exploring ways to have them brought to justice. Libya has issued numerous arrest warrants already. And the UN is helping African countries build capacity for the investigation and prosecution of human traffickers,’ Blok said. 

The UN Security Council, of which the Netherlands is a temporary member, meets in New York on Wednesday. 

Read Blok’s speech, in English 

Blok interviewed on the plans by CNN

ICC 'undeterred' after US sanctions threat

Yahoo – AFP, September 11, 2018

The Hague-based ICC was set up in 2002 with jurisdiction to investigate and
prosecute the world's worst crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes
against humanity (AFP Photo/Martijn Beekman)

The Hague (AFP) - The International Criminal Court on Tuesday said its work would continue "undeterred" after Washington threatened to prosecute its officials if Americans are charged with war crimes committed in Afghanistan.

"The ICC, as a court of law, will continue to do its work undeterred, in accordance with those principles and the overarching idea of the rule of law," the tribunal said in a statement.

The Hague-based court's response comes a day after the United States threatened to arrest and sanction court officials should they move to charge any American who served in Afghanistan with war crimes.

White House National Security Advisor John Bolton called the Hague-based rights body "unaccountable" and "outright dangerous" to the United States, Israel and other allies, and said any probe of US service members would be "an utterly unfounded, unjustifiable investigation".

US National Security Advisor John Bolton described the International Criminal
Court as 'outright dangerous' (AFP Photo/WIN MCNAMEE)

"If the court comes after us, Israel or other US allies, we will not sit quietly," Bolton said.

The US was prepared to slap financial sanctions and criminal charges on officials of the court if they proceed against any Americans, he added.

But in response, the ICC declared itself an "independent and impartial judicial institution".

It also stressed that it would only investigate and prosecute crimes when the states will not or can not do so.

The Hague-based ICC was set up in 2002 with jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the world's worst crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The court however does not have the capacity to arrest suspects and depends on member states for their cooperation.

The United States has not signed up to the court and in 2002 Congress passed a law enabling Washington to invade the Netherlands to liberate any US citizen held by the court.

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ICC says can rule on Rohingya deportations from Myanmar

Yahoo – AFP, 6 September 2018

Some 700,000 people from the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority have fled 

Myanmar's northern Rakhine state into neighbouring Bangladesh since August last 

year to escape a bloody military crackdown Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees 

staged angry protests for "justice" on August 25 on the first anniversary of a 

Myanmar military crackdown that sparked a mass exodus to camps in Bangladesh

The International Criminal Court said Thursday it had jurisdiction to probe the forced exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar as a possible crime against humanity.

The ICC's "pre-trial chamber... decided by majority the court may exercise jurisdiction over the alleged deportations of the Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh," the Hague-based tribunal said in a statement.

The Myanmar government on Thursday declined to comment on the announcement when contacted by AFP.

Some 700,000 people from the stateless Muslim minority have fled Myanmar's northern Rakhine state into neighbouring Bangladesh since August last year to escape a bloody military crackdown.

The violence has left a trail of torched villages in its wake, amid allegations of murder and rape at the hands of troops and vigilantes.

In an unprecedented move in April, the ICC's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked judges at the world's only permanent war crimes court to rule whether she can investigate the deportations as a crime against humanity.

It is a legally complicated request, as Myanmar is not a signatory and member of the Rome Statute which underpins the ICC.

Bangladesh,however, is a signatory and Bensouda argued that should give her office jurisdiction to investigate the plight of the Rohingya.

She likened deportation to "a cross-border shooting", arguing the crime "is not completed until the bullet (fired in one state) strikes and kills the victim (standing in another state)".

Israel, Palestinians reach agreement on frozen taxes

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has reached an agreement with Israel. According to the deal, tax revenues collected by Israel for the Palestinians will be transferred after a three-month freeze.

Deutsche Welle, 18 April 2015

"There is an agreement, the money will be sent in full," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (photo) confirmed on Saturday. According to the Palestinian prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, the taxes collected and frozen by Israel for the Palestinian Authority over a period of three months amounted to almost half a billion US-dollars (roughly 463 million euros).

No further details were provided about the negotiations.

Israeli media reported that the transfer would take place on Monday.

Israel froze the tax transfers in January, after the Palestinians applied to join the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Palestinian Authority formally joined the ICC on April 1.

At the beginning of April, Israel agreed to release the funds after deducting debts due for electricity, water and medical services. The Palestinians rejected the proposal and insisted on full payment.

Israel typically collects taxes and customs on behalf of the Palestinians and transfers the sums. They account for 70 percent of the Palestinian Authority's revenue.

In the past, transfer freezes have been imposed many times, but they have rarely lasted more than one or two months. An exception occurred in 2006, when the Islamist movement Hamas won a landslide victory in Palestinian legislative elections and Israel withheld the funds for six months.

das/kms (AP, AFP)

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ICC prosecutor opens probe into war crimes against Palestinians

Yahoo – AFP, Jan Hennop, 16 Jan 2015

Buildings destroyed in the 50-day Gaza war between Israel and Hamas-led 

militants are seen during a winter storm in Gaza City's Al-Shejaiya suburb on

January 6, 2015 ©Mohammed Abed (AFP/File)

The Hague (AFP) - The International Criminal Court's prosecutor on Friday opened a preliminary probe into possible war crimes committed against Palestinians, a move immediately blasted by Israel as "scandalous".

Fatou Bensouda said her office would conduct an "analysis in full independence and impartiality" into alleged war crimes, including those committed during last year's Gaza war.

Her decision comes after Palestine formally joined the ICC earlier this month allowing it to lodge war crimes and crimes against humanity complaints against Israel as of April.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 

chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in his

 Jerusalem offices on December 14, 2014

 (AFP Photo/Oliver Weiken)

Nearly 2,200 Palestinians and 73 Israelis were killed during last summer's war in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted angrily to the prosecutor's decision, calling it "scandalous" and "absurd" since "the Palestinian Authority cooperates with Hamas, a terror group that commits war crimes, in contrast to Israel that fights terror while maintaining international law, and has an independent justice system."

Gambian-born Bensouda had earlier stressed that "a preliminary examination is not an investigation but a process of examining the information available... on whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation."

Bensouda will decide at a later stage whether to launch a full investigation.

US, Israel condemns move

Israel began a massive crackdown on the West Bank on June 13 after the kidnapping and subsequent murder of three Israeli teenagers, triggering a series of events that led to the seven-week Gaza war.

Palestine's move to join the ICC is also seen as part of a shift in strategy to internationalise its campaign for statehood and move away from the stalled US-led peace process.

The Palestinians were upgraded from observer status to UN "observer state" in 2012, opening the doors for them to join the ICC and a host of other international organisations.

Both Israel and the US have condemned the plan, with Washington calling it "counterproductive".

International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor

 Fatou Bensouda speaks to a journalist

 after arriving in Arusha, Tanzania on 

November 4, 2014 (AFP Photo)

Israel reacted swiftly on Friday, slamming the announcement.

The sole purpose of the preliminary examination is to "try to harm Israel's right to defend itself from terror", Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a statement.

He said the decision was "solely motivated by political anti-Israel considerations".

Lieberman accused the court of double standards for not examining the mass killings in Syria or other conflict zones, investigating instead "the most moral army in the world".

The foreign minister also said he would act to "dismantle this court, a body that represents hypocrisy and gives terror a tailwind."

Israel earlier this month delayed transferring some $127 (106 million euros) in taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinians in retaliation for the attempts to press war crimes charges against the Jewish state.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki welcomed the move by the ICC.

"Everything is going according to plan, no state and nobody can now stop this action we requested," he told AFP. "In the end, a full investigation will follow the preliminary one."

'Justice for victims'

Rights group Amnesty International welcomed the ICC's announcement saying it "could pave the way for thousands of victims of crimes under international law to gain access to justice."

But the initial probe could lead to an investigation into crimes "committed by all sides", Amnesty stressed in a statement.

Friday's announcement is the second such an initial probe by the ICC's prosecutor into the situation in Palestine.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad

 al-Malki delivers a press conference at

The Hague on August 5, 2014 (AFP

Photo/Martijn Beekman)

The Palestinian Authority in 2009 lodged a complaint against Israel but the ICC prosecutor said in 2012 after "carefully considering legal arguments" it could not investigate because of the Palestinians' status at the UN.

At the time the Palestinians' "observer" status blocked them from signing up to the ICC's founding Rome Statute.

The ICC is the world's first independent court set up in 2002 to investigate genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But it can only probe alleged crimes in countries that have ratified the Rome Statute, or accepts the Hague-based court's jurisdiction for a certain time period, or through a referral by the UN Security Council.

Currently, chief prosecutor Bensouda is also running preliminary investigations in Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia, Guinea, Honduras, Iraq and Ukraine.

While 123 countries have now ratified the Rome Statute, Israel and the United States have not.

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Palestinians present ICC membership request to UN

US: Palestine not eligible to join ICC

The US has slammed the UN's move to accept Palestine as a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The State Department says Palestine does not qualify for the ICC membership because it is not a sovereign state.

Deutsche Welle, 7 Jan 2015

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki speaks at the daily briefing at the
State Department in Washington,dc on March 10, 2014 (Photo: Nicholas Kamm/
AFP/Getty Images)

"The United States does not believe that the state of Palestine qualifies as a sovereign state and does not recognize it as such and does not believe that it is eligible to accede to the Rome statute," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Wednesday, referring to the convention under which the International Criminal Court (ICC) was set up.

The US, which is not a full member of the ICC, is unlikely to block the move; however, it can cut off its annual aid of $440 million (372 million euros) to the Palestinian Authority.

A request by Palestine to join the ICC was accepted by the UN earlier on Wednesday, according to UN spokesperson Stephanie Dujarric.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had been quoted by the Associated Press and DPA news agencies late Tuesday as saying that the authority would join the ICC on April 1.

In late December, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed documents applying to join the ICC following a failed bid at the United Nations Security Council to set a timeline for setting up a Palestinian state on lands occupied by Israel.

The long-signaled move, part of a broader Palestinian strategy to achieve statehood, has been condemned by both Israel and the US as an impediment to reaching a permanent peace deal.

The ICC was established to prosecute individuals who perpetrate war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

While joining the court would give Palestinians the ability to pursue war crimes charges against Israelis, an ICC investigation could also possibly lead to war crimes charges against Palestinians.

shs/msh (AFP, Reuters, AP, dpa)

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Palestinians present ICC membership request to UN

Palestinians present ICC membership request to UN

Yahoo – AFP, 2 Jan 2015

In this photo released by the United Nations, Palestinian envoy Riyad H. Mansour

 speaks to the media on January 1, 2015, after his meeting with UN Assistant

Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Stephen Mathias (Photo by Evan Schneider/AFP) 

The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations on Friday formally requested membership in the International Criminal Court, which would allow war crimes complaints to be filed against Israel.

Membership of the Rome Statute, which governs the ICC, would open the way for Palestinians to pursue criminal complaints in The Hague, but is firmly opposed by both Israel and the United States.

"This is a very significant step," envoy Riyad Mansour told reporters. "We are seeking justice for all the victims that have been killed by Israel, the occupying power."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to

 review the letters on Palestine joining the

 Rome Statute, which governs the ICC, 

and notify state members on the request

within 60 days

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to review the so-called instruments of accession and notify state members on the request within 60 days.

"We are honored that we are the 123rd state-party of the ICC, which will be effective in about 60 days from now in accordance with the rules and procedures of the ICC," Mansour said.

The Palestinian envoy submitted the so-called instruments of accession to the United Nations' top legal affairs official, Stephen Mathias, at UN headquarters in New York.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas signed requests to join the ICC and 16 other conventions on Wednesday, a day after the Security Council failed to adopt a resolution paving the way to full statehood.

The move is part of a shift in strategy for the Palestinians, who are seeking to internationalize their campaign for statehood and move away from the US-led negotiation process.

The United States has branded the move to seek ICC membership as "counterproductive" and warned it would only push the sides further apart.

But the Palestinians hope joining the court will allow them to seek justice against Israel for its actions in the occupied territories.

ICC to look at Gaza war, settlements

Mansour said the Palestinians had also filed a request with the ICC in The Hague to grant retroactive jurisdiction to the court to cover alleged war crimes committed during last year's Gaza war.

Almost 2,200 Palestinians were killed in July and August during the 50-day war in Gaza, including more than 400 children, according to UN estimates.

Mansour said the Palestinians will also be seeking to launch legal action over Jewish settlement construction, which he said was a war crime under the Rome Statute.

"This is a peaceful option, a civilized option and an option that anyone who upholds the law should not be afraid of," he said.

The Palestinians were upgraded from observer entity to a UN "observer state" in 2012, opening the possibility for them to join the ICC and a host of other international organizations.

This United Nations photo shows the UN Security Council during a meeting

to adopt a resolution on Palestinian statehood on December 30, 2014 in New York

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Hague-based ICC to reject the request, arguing that the Palestinian Authority (PA) did not rank as a state.

But ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has already said that Palestine qualifies to join the Rome Statute.

Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute however and does not recognize the court's jurisdiction.

Palestinians weigh options

Despite the setback at the Security Council, the Palestinians have said they will be looking at other measures at the General Assembly and other UN venues to press for recognition.

"We are studying all of our options and we will be mapping our course accordingly," said Mansour.

China, France and Russia were among eight countries that backed the resolution on ending the Israeli occupation by the end of 2017, but the result fell short of the nine votes required for adoption.

The United States and Australia voted against and five other countries abstained, among them Nigeria, which had been expected to vote in favor but changed its stance at the last minute.

The Palestinians are considering further action at the Security Council, which started the year with five new countries seen as having a more pro-Palestinian stance, Mansour said.

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Israel hails UN rejection of Palestinian statehood proposal

Israel hails UN rejection of Palestinian statehood proposal

Israel says it welcomes the UN Security Council's rejection of a Palestinian proposal demanding an end to Israeli occupation within three years. It called instead for further dialogue between the two sides.

Deutsche Welle, 31 Dec 2014

A Palestinian boy waves the national flag as he and other children take part in a

 rally outside the United Nations offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah on 

August 12, 2014 . Abbas Momani/AFP/Getty Images

Israel on Wednesday hailed a decision by the United Nations Security Council not to adopt a Palestinian-drafted resolution that would have called on the Jewish state to end its occupation on Palestinian territories within three years.

"Every Israeli who wants peace with our neighbors can only be satisfied with the results of this vote," deputy foreign minister Tzahi HaNegbi told Israel Radio.

"That is what the world said yesterday to the Palestinians: "You must hold a dialogue with the Israelis. The Israelis have the right to stand on the international and security interests, and don't use us, the international forum of the UN, to try and solve a conflict between two sides," he added.

He also described the resolution as an attempt "to embarrass and isolate Israel."

One vote short

The Security Council rejected the resolution late on Tuesday, with eight members voting in favor, two against and five abstentions. Nine votes would have been required for the vote to be adopted by the 15-member council.

Those in favor included Russia, China and France, while the United States and Australia voted against.

The US, a close ally of Israel, had always opposed the resolution, saying a negotiated peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians was the only way forward, and these sentiments were reiterated by US Ambassador Samantha Power after the vote.

"We voted against this resolution not because we are comfortable with the status quo. We voted against it because ... peace must come from hard compromises that occur at the negotiating table," Power said, adding that the deadlines laid out in the draft resolution did not take into account "Israeli legitimate security concerns."

'Genuine peace effort'

The Palestinian side, for its part, voiced disappointment at the decision and said it would mull further steps, including seeking to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), where it could sue Israeli officials for war crimes committed in the occupied territories.

"Our effort was a serious effort, genuine effort, to open the door for peace," said Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador.

"Unfortunately, the Security Council is not ready to listen to that message," he added.

Russia also voiced its regret at the Security Council decision, with UN envoy Vitaly Churkin calling it a "strategic error."

The draft resolution set a one-year deadline for negotiations with Israel and demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank by the end of 2017.

Palestinian negotiator Saab Erekat said the resolution could be resubmitted to the Security Council in the next few days, with five new non-permanent members starting on Thursday who are seen as more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.

If this failed, he said, Palestinians would push on with their plans to join the ICC.

tj/es (AP, dpa, AFP)

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