AMMAN, 2 February 2004 — Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher said yesterday that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is empowered to rule on a barrier built by Israel across the West Bank despite world reservations.
“This is a legal issue even if it has political connotations and Jordan has presented the court with legal arguments against the separation barrier,” Moasher told Al Dustour newspaper.
“Saying that the court is not competent to rule on the separation barrier is not a real pretext,” he said.
“The West Bank is an occupied territory ... Israel’s construction of a wall there now is illegal,” Moasher said, adding that Amman’s legal arguments “are dictated by Jordan’s supreme national interests”.
The United States, the European Union and several other countries have expressed reservations over plans by the court to start hearings later this month on the barrier, triggering praise from Israel Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.
Shalom “hopes the court will decline to discuss the legality of the security fence, which is a political question,” an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told AFP on Saturday.
She said other countries, including Russia, Poland, Hungary and Australia, had also all agreed that the court in The Hague was not the appropriate forum to discuss the barrier, which is currently under construction. Israel formally submitted a written challenge Friday to the right of the ICJ to rule on the barrier.
The UN General Assembly has requested the ICJ rule on the barrer’s legality after hearings which are set to begin on Feb. 23.
The opinion is non-binding and only advisory but could cause great embarrassment to Israel.
Thirty-three countries believe the ICJ does not have the jurisdiction to rule on the legality of the barrier , an Israeli Foreign Ministry official said yesterday.
Among the countries submitting an objection were the United States, the majority of EU member states including France, Germany and Britain, Russia, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Senegal, Cameroun, Poland and Hungary. “These countries believe the issue of the security fence is a political issue which the court in The Hague is not supposed to debate,” Prosor told army radio.
