Harriet P. Schleifer, Chair, and William Daroff, CEO, of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, issued the following statement in response to today’s advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice concerning Israel:
“We condemn in the strongest terms the ruling issued by the International Court of Justice today with respect to Israel’s presence in the territories of the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The ICJ, like the entire United Nations’ system, is rife with antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — this verdict has given us simply more proof of what was already evident. The accusations in the ruling amount to a modern-day blood libel.
“Israel came into possession of the territories of the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the course of the Six Day War, a conflict in which it was faced with annihilation. The status of both territories must be determined in the context of bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians as acknowledged internationally in the Oslo Accords, not through the diktat of the ICJ in The Hague.
“The ICJ’s complicity in Palestinian lawfare against the Jewish state will only hinder peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The ICJ’s demand that Israel immediately withdraw from these areas would prove destructive to Israel’s security, at a time when the country faces menaces on all sides. Such a step would also disregard the Jewish people’s attachment to the holy sites of the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, and Jerusalem’s status as the eternal, undivided capital of the Jewish people.
“We call on the United States government and our allies around the world to immediately reject this verdict.”
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The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations is the recognized central coordinating body representing 50 diverse national Jewish organizations on issues of national and international concern.
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