Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Construction in the West Bank: the EU cannot fool all the people all the time
The EU is entitled to take sides (as it copiously does) in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. But why be devious? The EU has no problem defying...
ICC undermines its own independence with Palestine inquiry
The ICC’s Prosecutor announced on Friday the opening of a “preliminary examination” into “the Situation in Palestine. The decision to open the inquiry involved the prosecutor determining that the...
Is the International Criminal Court biased against Israel?
In the wake of the Palestinian turn to the International Criminal Court, several commentators have argued that there is no reason to think the institution is out to get...
Disagreeing with the two-state solution has become blasphemy
The “two-state solution” has become a religious dogma and expressing a differing opinion is now punishable. Advocating the return of the West Bank to Jordan or its full annexation...
A Tale of Two Green Lines
Efforts by academic groups to impose boycotts and other kinds of punitive measures on Israeli universities have gotten considerable attention lately. However, an opposite phenomenon has escaped notice: the...
Sweden’s unprincipled stance on recognition
Sweden’s surprise announcement that it will (at some undetermined future juncture) recognize a “Palestinian state” contradicts basic tenants of its foreign policy, and imperils Stockholm’s cherished stance as a...
Mahmoud Abbas cannot rewrite international law
Mahmoud Abbas threatened last week to go to the U.N. and, according to Palestinian sources, ask the U.N. Security Council to compel a deadline for the withdrawal of Israel...
Does Israel have to give free power to Gaza?
A recent debate has arisen over whether Israel, from which Gaza procures much of its power, is obligated under international law to continue providing Gaza with power during the...
Crimea, International Law, and the West Bank
Secretary of State John Kerry spent the spring shuttling between his two major foreign-policy concerns—Russia’s control over Crimea and Israel’s control over the West Bank—entirely unaware that he was...