Israeli supreme court: Barrier ruling was flawed

The Israeli Supreme Court today said the world court’s ruling on Israel’s West Bank security barrier was flawed because the international body did not sufficiently consider Israel’s security needs.

In July 2004, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled the barrier violated Palestinian rights and should be torn down.

The barrier is meant to prevent Palestinian militants from attacking Israel, but the nine-judge Israeli panel said the world court only considered “the injury to the rights of the Palestinian residents” in its ruling.

In today’s ruling, the Supreme Court also instructed Israel’s Defence Ministry to reroute a section of the barrier that would affect Palestinian residents of five villages near the Jewish settlement of Alfei Menashe.