Islamic Middle East Blog

Zoe Weinberg November 2, 2008

Article:

Israeli Security Chief Warns Of Armed Jewish Right

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-us-palestinians-israel-radicals.html
Time: November, 2, 2008

Place: Jerusalem, Israel

Key People: Yuval Diskin, head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency, radicial right Israelis, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert,

Summary:
The radical right wing in Israel is considering using violence to prevent any peace agreements in which the West Bank would be given to Palestinians. Already, violence in the West Bank has been on the rise, especially violence aimed at Palestinians and Israeli security forces. If the agreement went through, Israel would withdraw from all territory captured during in the 1967 Middle East war.

Your Response:

This news update, particularly relevant to class this week (!), reminded me just how difficult it is to broker peace agreements. Politicians feel accountable to their constituents, many of whom feel very strongly that ceding the West Bank is not an option. And ignoring those requests could be fatal, as proved in Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination in 1995.

One part of the article that raises a lot of questions for me is about international systems of justice:

“Settler leaders have condemned the violence but have made no secret of their community’s opposition to the evacuation of settlements — which have been ruled illegal by the World Court — to make way for a Palestinian state.”

I assume this refers to the International Court of Justice (as opposed to the Permanent Court of International Justice or the International Criminal Court) but I admit I don’t know as much as I should about how it operates. How much clout does the World Court have? I know UN courts famously have little influence, but how now? How exactly will enforcement work in this situation?