. . . Arthur Stark, Chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, issued the following statement:
“We reject in the strongest terms the baseless assertion of jurisdiction by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in any case brought by the Palestinian Authority. This is a prelude to yet another smear campaign against the Jewish State by an international body that seeks to impose itself into a situation well beyond its province.
As stated by Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, the ICC’s jurisdiction only permits its involvement in disputes between sovereign states. According to the criteria established by international law and the ICC’s own founding Statute, it is demonstrably and irrefutably clear that the Palestinian Authority is not a sovereign state. To claim otherwise is a distortion of law and only serves to reduce the ICC’s legitimacy as an unbiased judicial forum.
The Palestinian Authority has further frustrated any prospect of peace by continuing to flout the agreed upon basis for negotiations. In appealing to the ICC, the PA is attempting to dictate a political end through judicial means and thereby avoid negotiations. The ICC being used in such a way betrays its purpose. This will not achieve progress toward a viable and lasting resolution to a conflict which can only be solved through direct political negotiations between the two sides.
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