A demonstrator holds a Palestinian flag in front of Israeli forces near Turkqam in the occupied West Bank on June 5, 2020.
The International Court of Justice will once again issue a legal opinion on the consequences of Israel's occupation of Palestine.
The UN's historic vote called on the Court to look at the Israeli occupation in terms of the legal consequences, the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and the responsibilities of all UN member states in ending the prolonged occupation. Particular emphasis will be placed on the "demographic composition, character and status" of Jerusalem.
The International Court of Justice was last asked to issue a legal opinion on the matter in 2004, but at that time it focused mainly on "the legal consequences of the construction of the (apartheid) wall".
While the Court did conclude that Israel's entire actions in the occupied territories violated international law — the Fourth Geneva Convention, the relevant provisions of the early Hague Regulations and, of course, numerous General Assembly and Security Council resolutions — this time it offered its own views on Israel's attempts to turn temporary military occupation into permanent occupation.
In other words, the Court can – and probably may – revoke the legality of every action Israel has taken in occupied Palestine since 1967. This time, the consequences will not be symbolic, as is often the case with relevant United Nations decisions on Palestine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has done more to "normalize" the occupation than any other Israeli leader, was understandably outraged after the U.N. vote, calling it "despicable." His coalition partners and other allies were equally uncompromising.
Knesset lawmakers said in a Jan. 1 interview that Israel's "occupation of the West Bank is permanent and Israel has the right to annex it." Most importantly, Fogel's words encapsulate the new realities of Israel and Palestine. Gone are the days of political ambiguity about Israel's ultimate motives in the occupied territories.
In fact, Israel is now trying to manage a completely new stage of its colonization program in Palestine - an effort that began in 1947-48 and, according to its own calculations, will end with a full-fledged colonization of Palestine: Israel's version of a single-state solution based on apartheid and racial discrimination.
Israel's attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque last week drew a lot of criticism around the world, and he is sending a clear message to the Palestinians and the entire international community: as far as Israel is concerned, no international law is relevant, nothing is sacred, and no Palestinian land is off-limits.
This time, however, it was different from usual.
Yes, Israel's territorial expansion at the expense of Palestine has been a common denominator for all Israeli governments for the past 75 years. However, several Israeli governments, including Netanyahu's early cabinet, have found indirect ways to justify illegal settlement construction. The so-called natural expansion and security needs are among the many pretexts provided by Israel for its constant military seizure.
In fact, none of this would have been possible without America's inexhaustible financial, military and political support for Israel. Moreover, the U.S. veto power in the U.N. Security Council and relentless pressure on members of the U.N. General Assembly allowed Israel to circumvent international law unscathed. The result is today's tragic reality.
According to the official United Nations news website, there are currently nearly 700,000 illegal settlers. The Israeli NGO Immediate Peace said the settlers live in 145 illegal colonies in the West Bank, in addition to 140 settlement outposts, many of which could be formalized by the new government.
In fact, Netanyahu's coalition was forged with the legalization of outposts, thus providing them with official government funding. This should not pose a major political problem for Netanyahu, who successfully pitched the idea of annexing much of the West Bank to the Knesset in 2020 and is now determined to embark on a process of "soft annexation" – in fact annexation that is likely to later be legalized into de jure annexation.
Gone are the days of political ambiguity about Israel's ultimate motives in the occupied territories.
For Netanyahu, the complete colonization of Palestine will not be a legal issue either. Israel's 2018 Nation-State Law has provided legal cover for Tel Aviv to flout international law and do whatever it wants in terms of Palestinian colonization and marginalization of Palestinian rights as a whole. According to this Basic Law, "the State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, in which it realizes its natural, cultural, religious and historical right to self-determination". The new government quoted this in its December 29 statement.
Not many people in Israel have protested against this. In a recent article in the Palestine Chronicle, Israeli historians explain how the current socio-political formation of Israeli society makes alternative mainstream politics almost impossible, except for the three dominant right-wing and extremist currents at work in Netanyahu's coalition: ultra-Orthodox Jews, ethno-religious Jews, and secular Jews of the Likud bloc.
This means that change in Israel can never come from Israel itself. While the Palestinians continue to resist, Arab and Muslim Governments and the international community as a whole must confront Israel and use all available means to put an end to this taunt.
The opinion of the International Court of Justice is important, but without meaningful action, legal opinion alone cannot reverse the sinister reality on the ground in Palestine, especially when it is financed, supported and supported by Washington and Israel's other Western allies.