by Raphael Ahren
In a rare show of support for Israel’s
settlement enterprise, Australia’s foreign minister has said that the
international community should refrain from calling settlements illegal
under international law, without waiting for their status to be
determined in a deal with the Palestinians.
In
an exclusive interview with The Times of Israel, Julie Bishop suggested
that, contrary to conventional diplomatic wisdom, the settlements may
not be illegal under international law. She refrained from condemning
Israeli initiatives to build additional housing units beyond the Green
Line or from calling on Israel to freeze such plans, merely saying the
fact that settlements were being expanded showed the need for the sides
to quickly reach a peace agreement.
“I don’t want to prejudge the fundamental
issues in the peace negotiations,” Bishop said. “The issue of
settlements is absolutely and utterly fundamental to the negotiations
that are under way and I think it’s appropriate that we give those
negotiations every chance of succeeding.”
Asked whether she agrees or disagrees with the
near-universal view that Israeli settlements anywhere beyond the 1967
lines are illegal under international law, she replied: “I would like to
see which international law has declared them illegal.”
The position that settlements breach
international law — adopted by the United Nations Security Council, the
European Union and many other states and international bodies, but
rejected by Israel — is based on an interpretation of the Fourth Geneva
Convention. Article 49, paragraph 6, states that an occupying power
“shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into
the territory it occupies.” Violations of the convention are considered
war crimes under international law. Israel is a party to the convention
and therefore bound by it.
‘I don’t think it’s helpful to prejudge the settlement issue if you’re trying to get a negotiated solution’
“Our interest is in a negotiated peace between
the Israelis and the Palestinians and we believe that every opportunity
should be given to those negotiations to proceed to its solution,” said
Bishop, who came to Israel on Monday to attend the funeral of former
prime minister Ariel Sharon. “I don’t think it’s helpful to prejudge the
settlement issue if you’re trying to get a negotiated solution. And by
deeming the activity as a war crime, it’s unlikely to engender a
negotiated solution.”
The issue of Israeli settlements should be determined in the course of the current US-brokered peace talks, she added.
Settlements are widely considered damaging to
the peace process, with even Israel’s closest allies condemning Jewish
construction in the West Bank. Canada, for example, officially considers them “a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention” and a “serious obstacle” to peace.
Tony Abbott, on the day he was elected Australia’s new prime minister, Sept. 7, 2013. (photo credit: AP/Rob Griffith)
But since
September, when the center-right Liberal Party of Prime Minister Tony
Abbott came to power in Canberra, Australia has been going to great
lengths to demonstrate staunch support for Jerusalem’s policy on the
international stage. Under Bishop’s stewardship, Australia has changed
its voting patterns at the UN in favor of Israel. While under her
predecessor, Bob Carr, Canberra often supported anti-Israel resolutions
at the UN General Assembly, she has had Australia oppose or abstain from
several such measures.
In November, Australia was one of only eight countries to
abstain in a vote on a resolution demanding that Israel cease “all
Israeli settlement activities in all of the occupied territories.”
Nearly 160 nations supported the resolution. In December, Australia was one of 13 countries that
did not vote in favor of a resolution calling on Israel to “comply
scrupulously” with the Geneva Convention (169 countries voted yes).
“I considered
each one [of these votes] on its merit and looked at the totality of
the resolutions on similar matters across the UN and I decided and asked
the [Foreign Affairs and Trade] Department to take on my instructions
accordingly that we would consider each resolution and ensure that what
we’re doing was balanced,” Bishop told The Times of Israel in the
interview. “The Australian government is confident that the position it
has adopted is balanced. It’s not one-sided.”
The current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
“should be given any chance of succeeding,” the minister said, yet she
sounded pessimistic when asked how realistic were the prospects of a
final-status deal.
Citing regional turmoil, Bishop appeared to
echo her Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Liberman, who often argues that it
is foolish to seek to lay the foundation for a new building amid an
earthquake.
“I wonder whether the timing will work against
us, given the instability in the region, with Syria and Lebanon and
Jordan and Egypt and Iraq,” she said. “The peace process is a challenge
in and of itself. But in these current times, in this current context, I
expect it will be even more challenging.”
Australian
FM Julie Bishop after she placed a wreath at the fresh grave of Ariel
Sharon, January 13. 2013 (screen capture: YouTube)
Bishop also condemned what she said was
excessive pressure exerted on Israel by Western states and civil
society, including the threat of boycotts.
“Israel has
to be ever vigilant against such tendencies on the part of the
international community,” the minister said. While private organizations
were free to boycott whomever they wanted, any Australian body that
received state funding should be barred from calling for boycotts, she
continued.
She also
strongly condemned the global anti-Israel BDS movement: “It’s
anti-Semitic. It identifies Israel out of all other nations as being
worthy of a boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign?
Hypocritical
beyond belief.”
Raphael Ahren
Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com/australia-fm-dont-call-settlements-illegal-under-international-law/#ixzz2qZo0I8kx
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