- Six percent of West Bank territory will effectively be
annexed into the Green Line with the completion of the separation fence
planned for the end of 2005, a security official said on Sunday.
-
- The official, speaking to a forum supporting the West
Bank fence, said that the first and second phases of the construction have
already transferred 1.7 percent of the West Bank into the Green Line.
-
- In addition, Ministry of Defense data revealed that the
fence's deviation eastward from the Green Line in the area between Salem
and the settlement of Elkana has resulted in 15,000 Palestinians being
located west of the fence. This population includes the residents of Baka
al-Sharkiya as well as Palestinians staying in Israel illegally.
-
- Lapid: Israel could face world boycott over fence
-
- Justice Minister Yosef Lapid warned the cabinet on Sunday
that the upcoming discussion by the International Court of Justice at The
Hague on the construction of the separation fence between Israel and the
West Bank could be the first step in Israel being treated like a modern-day
apartheid-era South Africa. He warned that Israel could be liable to international
boycotts similar to those placed on South Africa during its apartheid regime.
-
- The justice minister said that Israel had brought this
on itself for not sticking to the original route of the fence in the West
Bank, along the Green Line, thus turning the matter into an international
dispute. He advised the cabinet to hold another discussion on the route
"which will give us a degree of flexibility in international forums."
-
- Health Minister Danny Naveh said in response on Sunday
that Lapid's comments were "dangerous." He criticized Lapid for
even raising the matter. Shas leader MK Eli Yishai said Lapid's comments
will endanger lives. He said he was "sor ry that Lapid was more concerned
about Israel's image in the eyes of the world than by the need to worry
about the needs of Israel's citizens."
-
- MK Yossi Sarid (Meretz) demanded that Lapid appear before
the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to explain what Israel
should expect from the court discussion.
-
- Balad MK Jamal Zahalka said in response to Lapid's comments
that it is not enough to alter the route of the fence. The barrier should
be torn down, he said, as "it is being built in contravention of international
law." He expressed his hope that "intense pressure will be applied
on Israel to force if to dismantle its racist wall."
-
- The head of the Prime Minister's Bureau, Dov Weisglass,
told the cabinet Sunday that an inter-ministerial committee of legal experts
was putting together Israel's line of defense ahead of the Hague discussion.
-
- Weisglass said that the panel's recommendations would
be brought for the approval of a special forum comprising Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon, Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Silvan
Shalom, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz
and Lapid.
-
- This forum of ministers will also decide on the line
of defense Israel will present to the court.
-
- The International Court of Justice has set a deadline
of the end of this month for submitting arguments and said it would begin
hearings on the fence issue on February 23.
-
- The court announced the timetable with unusual speed
last month, just 11 days after the United Nations General Assembly adopted
a resolution asking the UN's highest judicial authority to render an urgent
opinion on the issue.
-
- The court, also known as the world court, said the United
Nations or any of its member states may submit written arguments by January
30. Countries wishing to present oral arguments must inform the court by
February 13, and hearings would begin 10 days later.
-
- Although the Palestinian Authority is not a member, it
would be permitted to state its case by virtue of its status as a UN observer
and co-sponsor of the resolution requesting the court's intervention, the
court said.
-
- The court gave no estimate of how long the proceedings
might last or when it might render its opinion. In the past, the 15 judges
have taken months, and sometimes years, to publish their findings, although
the court said it was taking "all necessary steps to accelerate the
procedure."
|
