“THE “nuclear option” was how American and Palestinian officials described the application by Mahmoud Abbas, Palestine’s president, to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. His move follows a vote against a Palestinian attempt to have the UN Security Council set a deadline for Israel to end its occupation of territories it captured in 1967. It might open Israel—or Palestine—to charges of committing war crimes. Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the UN, said Palestine would join the court on April 1st.
Before Mahmoud Abbas applied on January 1st to join the ICC, Israeli officials promised it would result in an appropriate “Zionist response”: the expansion of settlements that would in effect bisect the West Bank near Jerusalem. Moreover, said officials, an application would also effectively spell the end of talks to establish an independent Palestinian state: never again, they said, would Israel negotiate with Palestinians over the future of Jerusalem, an issue that would have to be the cornerstone of any agreement since both sides claim it as their capital.
Given such hyperbole, the response of Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, looks fairly mild.”* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.
*Read more here:
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21638151-will-joining-international-criminal-court-further-palestines-cause-see-you