Israel Matzav

'Palestinians': We never agreed to drop the ICC prosecution

The 'Palestinians' are denying a story I ran earlier today that claimed that they had agreed to drop their attempt to have Israel prosecuted for 'war crimes' in the International Criminal Court in exchange for having their tax moneys released.

A senior Palestinian official told Haaretz that the report, which first appeared in The Jerusalem Post, was entirely false and merely spin put out by the Prime Minister's Office.

"We continue to seek membership of the International Criminal Court and we expect the ICC to open an investigation into Israeli settlements, as well as the recent war in Gaza," the official said.

"The reports in the Israeli newspapers are nothing more than spin from Netanyahu's bureau; there was no such agreement. The money that Netanyahu transferred is Palestinian money and he isn't doing us any favors."

As far as the Palestinian Authority is concerned, the official added, Ramallah is more determined than ever to forge ahead with war crimes charges in The Hague.

"This Wednesday," he said, "Palestine will become a member of the ICC and the Palestinian Foreign Minister, Dr. Riyad al-Maliki, will represent the Palestinians in The Hague." He added that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said as much during the Arab League summit in Egypt over the weekend.

Who wants to bet that they did agree to drop it and changed their tune once the money was released?

Labels: International Criminal Court, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian tax transfers, war crimes

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:18 AM