Netanyahu: ‘Israelis are not Occupiers of Their Own Land’

The ICJ urged Israel to evacuate settlements in the West Bank, pay reparations to Palestinians displaced by settlements, and stop the construction of new settlements.

By Corey Walker, The Algemeiner

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lambasted the top UN court for saying on Friday that Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including its establishment of settlements in the territories, is illegal and violates international law.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) detailed its ruling in an advisory opinion, which is not legally binding.

“Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law,” President Nawaf Salam said while reading the findings of the 15-judge panel.

The ICJ urged Israel to evacuate settlements in the West Bank, pay reparations to Palestinians displaced by settlements, and stop the construction of new settlements. The court argued that Israel’s “occupation” has trampled on Palestinian “self-determination” and therefore must end.

Netanyahu rebuked the court’s opinion, arguing that Jews have a right to inhabit their historical homeland of Judea and Samaria in the West Bank.

“The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land, including in our eternal capital Jerusalem nor in Judea and Samaria, our historical homeland,” Netanyahu wrote on X/Twitter. “No absurd opinion in the Hague can deny this historical truth or the legal right of Israelis to live in their own communities in our ancestral home.”

While Netanyahu has long been a proponent of a Jewish presence in the West Bank, settlement construction intensified after the formation of the current right-wing Israeli government in 2022. Critics argue that the erection of West Bank settlements undermine the possibility of a Palestinian state. However, many proponents of settlements assert that Jews have a right to live in the Biblical lands of Judea and Samaria.

Israel has also ramped up construction of settlements in the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of over 1,200 people throughout southern Israel. In February, Israel approved plans to build over 3,300 new homes in the West Bank as a response to a fatal Palestinian shooting attack. Earlier this month, Israel reportedly approved 5,295 new housing units in the West Bank.

The ICJ case was set off by a December 2022 UN General Assembly resolution.

Opponents of Israel have been increasingly using the ICJ to pursue legal cases against the Jewish state. South Africa, for example, has accused Israel of committing “state-led genocide” in its defensive war against Hamas in Gaza. Israeli officials have strongly condemned the ICJ proceedings, noting that the Jewish state is targeting terrorists who use civilians as human shields in its military campaign.

Oren Marmorstein, spokesperson for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Jewish state “rejects” the ICJ’s “one-sided” opinion issued on Friday.

“The opinion is completely detached from the reality of the Middle East: while Hamas, Iran, and other terrorist elements are attacking Israel from seven fronts — including from Gaza and Judea & Samaria — with the aim of obliterating it, and in the aftermath of the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, the opinion ignores the atrocities that took place on October 7, as well as the security imperative of Israel to defend its territory and its citizens,” Marmorstein wrote.

Marmorstein added that the ICJ opinion “distances the possibility” of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-governance in the West Bank, “is not interested in peace.”

“It should be emphasized that the opinion is blatantly one-sided. It ignores the past: the historical rights of the State of Israel and the Jewish people in the Land of Israel,” he said. “It is detached from the present: from the reality on the ground and the agreements between the parties. And it is dangerous for the future: it distances the parties from the only possible solution, which is direct negotiations.”

US Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) argued  that negotiations for a potential Palestinian state should commence after the conclusion of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

“Today’s ruling by the so-called ‘International Court of Justice’ reaffirms that the UN discriminates against Israel. They have consistently denied Israel’s legitimate security needs and the right to defend her people,” Wasserman Schultz wrote.

“The discussion about the borders of a future Palestinian state should be part of a two-state solution negotiated by Israelis and Palestinians. However, no path forward exists until Hamas releases the hostages and lays down its arms, so that Israelis can live in a safe and secure environment free from another terrorist threat from Hamas,” Wasserman Schultz added.