UN expected to approve Hague court opinion on fence

(C) reprinted with the permission of Haaretz Daily (English)

By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies

The United Nations is likely to approve by a large majority a Palestinian draft resolution asking the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on the legality of the West Bank separation fence currently under construction by Israel.

Sources at the UN believe that 90 countries will support the proposal, to be discussed at an emergency UN session on Monday, while some 60 countries will vote against it. European Union nations are planning to abstain, while the U.S. will oppose the resolution.

Monday's vote will follow recent unsuccessful efforts made by EU countries to convince Palestinian UN envoy Nasser al-Kidwa to refrain from requesting the involvement of the Hague court. The Palestinians last month waived discussing the issue, yet nevertheless decided last week to advance the proposal following a report published recently by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, which criticized the West Bank barrier.

The current Palestinian draft resolution includes a special clause stating that "the UN assembly decides to request that the International Court of Justice issue an advisory opinion on the legal ramifications arising from the construction of the separation fence by Israel, the occupying force in the occupied Palestinian territories." The resolution also refers to construction of the fence being carried out in East Jerusalem.

Deputy UN Ambassador Aryeh Mekel said Israel would continue its efforts to convince friendly nations to vote against the proposal. Israel rejects the idea of adding the Hague court to the Mideast equation, which would hamper the efforts to achieve peace, he said.

If the proposal is approved, it would mark the first time the UN requests an advisory opinion from the Hague court on a politically affiliated issue - a move that several UN members fear would end up weakening the organization's influence.