UN seeks court advice on Israeli wall

The UN General Assembly approved a resolution today asking the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s construction of a separation wall.

The vote was 90 in favour, eight opposed and 74 abstentions, reflecting uneasiness in many nations on referring the issue to the world court, based in The Hague, Netherlands.

Several noted that any opinion would be advisory – not legally binding.

The US and Israel strongly opposed the resolution, arguing that it would “politicise” the court and undermine efforts to reach a Middle East peace settlement.

Israel insists the barrier, which it began building last year, is needed to prevent suicide attacks and says its construction is purely for security.

Arab nations argued that going to the court was the only action available to try to stop construction of the barrier which the Palestinians call a land grab by Israel ahead of possible talks about the borders of a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian UN observer, Nasser Al-Kidwa, started pushing for the resolution after Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a report declaring that Israel has failed to comply with a General Assembly demand to halt construction of the barrier, which juts into the West Bank.