Attorney General Menachem Mazuz presented Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a report Thursday issued by a team of prosecutors probing the ramifications of an International Court of Justice decision that declared the West Bank security fence a violation of international law, saying that the Hague ruling could lead to sanctions against Israel.
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The Attorney General wrote in his statement that, "It is hard to exaggerate the negative ramifications the International Court ruling will have on Israel on many levels, even on matters that lie beyond the separation fence. The decision creates a political reality for Israel on the international level, that may be used to expedite actions against Israel in international forums, to the point that they may result in sanctions."
Mazuz added that the Hague ruling "could reflect gradually on the decisions of the courts in Israel with regards to administering military authority in the West Bank and the building of the separation fence."
Mazuz recommended that Israel's spokespersons emphasize the fact that Israel acts according to the International Court ruling although the state believes it was based in partial evidence.
The Attorney General recommended the government make a supreme effort to make plans for the route of the separation fence comply with the ones specified in the High Court of Justice ruling.
Mazuz said this would minimize tension building on the international legal front. The Attorney General also suggested the new route defined by the High Court of Justice should be backed by a government decision which would send out the message that Israel is implementing international law regarding the separation fence in accordance with local courts.
High Court: gov't must assess Hague ruling Earlier Thursday, The High Court of Justice ordered the government to produce within 30 days a statement on last month's International Court of Justice decision that declared the West Bank security fence a violation of international law.
The panel also ordered the government to specify the possible ramifications of the ICJ ruling on Israeli policies governing construction of the fence.
The court issued the order as a part of its hearings on a petition submitted by residents of the West Bank village of Shukba, near Ben-Gurion International Airport. The petitioners are challenging a government land expropriation, issued for the construction of the separation fence.
"At a certain point in time we will have to deal with the ruling of the World Court in The Hague, and the current petition is an appropriate opportunity to do so," said Supreme Court President Aharon Barak.
In a June ruling, the court found that a 20-mile section of the barrier near Jerusalem required changes in order to avoid infringing on the rights of Palestinians.
The next month, the International Court in The Hague handed down a non-binding advisory opinion declaring the entire fence illegal and saying it should be torn down.
Israel has said it will ignore both that ruling and a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling on it to carry out the court's decision.
But Defense Ministry officials have since said that some sections of the fence would be moved.
In the ruling announced Thursday, Justices Barak, Eliahu Mazza and Mishael Cheshin accepted the stance of the petitioners, who claimed the government had to assess the implication of the Hague ruling. The petitioners were represented by attorney Mohammed Dakhla.
Dakhla argued that the Hague ruling changed the legal status surrounding the fence's construction, requiring Israel to build the fence on land within the pre-1967 Green Line border.
Dakhla further stated that Israel continued to expropriate lands in Palestinian villages indiscriminately, even after a High Court ruling that forces Israel to reroute 30 km of the fence near the village of Beit Suriq.
The court will continue considering the petition, but stopped short of issuing an injunction that would halt construction of the fence near Shukba.
Instead, the court said the government could continue construction if it undertook to remove the fence and compensate the villagers in the event the court ruled in favor of the petitioners
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