International Law Experts Sign Letter Against Annexation

Over 100 international law experts have joined the campaign against Israeli plans to annex parts of Yehuda and Shomron and the Jordan Valley.

The signatories warned in a letter to senior Israeli officials sent on Thursday that annexation would “constitute a flagrant violation of bedrock rules of international law, and would also pose a serious threat to international stability in a volatile region,” according to The Times of Israel.

They included a threat that annexation of any part of the region “would be null and void, entail consequences of international wrongfulness, and – under certain circumstances – lead to individual international criminal liability.”

The letter came a day after German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas met in Yerushalayim with Israeli leaders to urge them to drop annexation. Maas reportedly told them that although Germany would not back sanctions against Israel, other European countries might do so, if annexation goes forward. France has already threatened unspecified reprisals.

The missive was addressed to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn, and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.

It was published by Kevin Jon Heller, associate professor of public international law at the University of Amsterdam. A total of 103 people signed the letter, including several academics from Israel.

Signatories included Members of the law faculties of the Universities of Oslo, Glasgow, Ghent, Oxford, Cambridge, Sydney, Geneva, Toronto, and in the U.S., the Universities of Michigan, Georgetown, Wayne State, NYU, Harvard, Columbia, Tufts and Yale, among others.