Last Update: 23/02/2005 17:06
 
State says Hague's ruling based on erroneous data
 
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
 
 
 
In its response to the opinion of the International Court of Justice at the Hague on the separation fence, State Prosecution said Wednesday the court's opinion was based on erroneous, outdated data.
 
 
 
 
According to the prosecution, the Hague judges assumed in their ruling that the fence would annex to Israel 16 percent of the West Bank, while the fence route authorized by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz annexes only 3.3 percent.

Furthermore, the state argued that Mazuz's approved route did not include three enclaves where the fence would penetrate deeply into West Bank territory - the areas of the West Bank towns of Ariel, Ma'aleh Adumim as well as the area of the Gush Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem. The fence's route in these area will be discussed separately in the future.

The State prosecution response was submitted on Wednesday to the High Court of Justice and marks the first official reaction to the Hague opinion in August 2004.

High Court justices asked for the state's response while hearing a detailed petition regarding the villages of Shukba and Boudrous, a petition that has become a fundamental examination of the separation fence.

The petitioners claimed that according to the Hague decision, the separation fence goes against international law and has to be dismantled. The state claimed that the Hague opinion was irrelevant.