The separation fence or as the International Court of Justice in The Hague calls it, “The Wall” is legal, nine High Court of Justice judges unanimously ruled today. The court rejected a petition by the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and others claiming that the separation fence was illegal.
The High Court of Justice accepted the petitioners’ claims that the route of the separation fence in the Alfei Menashe area harmed 1,200 residents of five Palestinian villages in the area, and ordered that the fence be rerouted to provide the villages with access to the rest of the West Bank.
Supreme Court President Aharon Barak wrote the opinion, supported by Judges Dorit Beinisch, Mishael Cheshin, Asher Dan Grunis, Esther Hayut, Salim Joubran, Edmond Levy, Miriam Naor, and Ayala Procaccia.
Barak criticized the opinion by the International Court of Justice, saying that the conclusion by the majority of its judges that the separation fence was illegal was based on incorrect and incomplete evidential basis of Israel’s security needs. Barak went on to quote three judges who said they had not been presented with sufficient information on the subject. Barak said that on the basis of normative and practical principles, as well as the same international laws, the High Court of Justice reached a different and opposite conclusion than the International Court of Justice.
Barak concluded that due to the different evidential basis, the opinion of the International Court of Justice was not binding on Israel’s High Court of Justice, which was not obliged to rule that the entire route of the separation fence contravened international law.
Barak said that Israel’s High Court of Justice would review all the sections of the separation fence, and for each section ask whether there was a proportionate balance between Israel’s military and security needs and the rights of the local population.
The petition was filed against the prime minister, minister of defense, and IDF. The petitioners asked the court to rule that the section of the separation fence around Alfei Menashe was illegal.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on September 15, 2005