The Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday rejected four Palestinian defendants' claim it is not authorized to try them for the murder of then-tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi in 2001.

The four Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine members said court proceedings were illegal because they were Palestinian Authority citizens and the murder took place in East Jerusalem, which they consider occupied territory.

They added that they had already been tried for the murder in a Palestinian Authority court, barring them from standing trial a second time for the same charge.

	Advertisement

Judges Moshe Ravid, Orit Efa'el-Gabai and Aharon Farkash ruled Israeli sovereignty extended to East Jerusalem, which was officially annexed by the Israeli government after the 1967 Six-Day war.

They added that according to the Oslo Accords, Israel has the exclusive right to try Palestinians for crimes carried out within its territory, nullifying the PA trial. Furthermore, the law by which no person can stand trial twice for the same crime stands only if the PA asked Israel to try the defendants, which they said it did not do.