Netanyahu rejects ICJ opinion as ‘absurd,’ denying occupation of Palestinian territories

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) recent advisory opinion on the occupation of Palestinian territories, labeling it as “absurd.”

“The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land, including in our eternal capital, Jerusalem, nor in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), our historical homeland,” Netanyahu stated on social media platform X.

“No absurd opinion from The Hague can alter this historical truth or deny Israelis their right to live in their own communities in our ancestral home,” he added.

The ICJ’s opinion declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land as “unlawful” and urged the cessation of all new settlement activities and the evacuation of settlers from the occupied territories.

This advisory opinion followed a 2022 General Assembly resolution requesting the ICJ to evaluate the legal ramifications of Israel’s occupation, the impact of its policies, and the consequences for states and the U.N.

Israel has controlled the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967, during which it has expanded illegal settlements.

Fundamentally wrong, says Israeli Foreign Ministry

The Israeli Foreign Ministry rejected the ICJ’s opinion, describing it as “fundamentally wrong.”

The ministry stated that the non-binding opinion “conflates politics with law, introducing U.N. political issues into the ICJ’s legal framework.”

“This opinion only complicates the resolution of the conflict,” it added, accusing the Palestinian Authority of seeking to discredit Israel rather than pursuing peace.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir criticized the ICJ as “a clearly political and anti-Semitic organization,” asserting that Israel would not accept moral lessons from it.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the immediate imposition of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank in response to the ICJ’s decision.