The Palestinian Authority said it will consider filing a complaint at the International Criminal Court against the US ambassador to Israel for saying the Jewish state has the right to annex “some” of the West Bank.
In a statement Sunday, the PA’s foreign ministry said David Friedman’s remarks reflected the Trump administration’s policy toward Israeli settlements, though an American official later said there was no change in the US position.
“In what logic does Friedman think that Israel has the right to annex parts of the West Bank?” the statement carried by the PA’s official WAFA news said. “On what reality did he base his conviction? On international law prohibiting the annexation of territory by force? Or the reality imposed by the occupation authorities?”
The statement also included strong personal criticism of Friedman.
“This person who is illiterate in politics, history and geography, and who belongs to the state of the settlements… has nothing to do with logic, justice or law unless they serve the occupation state which he is eager to defend by all means,” it said.
In an interview published by The New York Times on Saturday, Friedman said that some degree of Israeli annexation of the West Bank would be legitimate.
“Under certain circumstances, I think Israel has the right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West Bank,” the ambassador said.
Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization and top Palestinian negotiator, said Friedman’s remarks proved that US President Donald Trump’s administration was heavily biased in favor of Israel and that the Palestinians were justified in choosing to boycott an economic conference in Bahrain later this month where Washington is set to unveil the first phase of a long-delayed peace plan. READ MORE
