Israel says it will respond to hostile PA move at the International Court of Justice

The Israeli government announced on Friday it would respond to the Palestinian Authority’s hostile moves to use the International Court of Justice to commit lawfare against the Jewish state and to wage a political battle for Judea and Samaria. 

At the P.A.’s request for the vote, the United Nations General Assembly recently voted 98-17 in favor of acquiring a legal opinion from the International Court of Justice on the “legal significance of the ongoing Israeli occupation” in the disputed territories. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government reportedly allocated 139 million shekels ($39 million) of the tax funds it collects on the P.A.’s behalf to compensate Israeli victims of Arab terrorism. 

Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office said Jerusalem’s decision was a “response to the Palestinian Authority’s decision to wage political and legal war against the State of Israel” in the international arena. 

This punitive financial measure also seeks to offset the “pay-for-slay” wages the P.A. compensates to those who plan or carry out terror attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets. In 2018, according to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs think tank, the P.A. directed NIS 1.24 billion ($330 million USD) in payments, including salaries and stipends, to convicted terrorists and their families.

Israel also plans to implement a partial moratorium on Arab construction in Area C of the West Bank – Judea and Samaria – which is currently under full Israeli control. 

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for P.A. head Mahmoud Abbas, condemned Israel’s retaliatory measures. 

“These decisions are condemned and rejected both in relation to money and other measures they are planning,” Abu Rudeineh said.

Israel captured Judea and Samaria, the biblical heartland of the State of Israel, from the Hashemite Kingdom Jordan in the Six-Day War in 1967. Jordan had held the territory for 19 years.