US: Palestine not a state, does not qualify for ICC membership
JERUSALEM (Worthy News)– Palestine is not a state, and therefore does not qualify for membership in the International Criminal Court according to the U.S. State Department, the Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday.
The US will oppose the Palestinian Authority’s move to join the body, and several others at the United Nations, as technically flawed, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
“It doesn’t qualify to join the ICC,” Psaki told reporters.
That US position stakes out a legal argument for denying ICC membership to the Palestinian Authority – or, at a minimum, for future legal battles over the court’s jurisdiction in the West Bank – after PA President Mahmoud Abbas signed the Rome Statute of the court on December 30. –[wp_colorbox_media url=”http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/US-Palestine-not-a-state-does-not-qualify-for-ICC-membership-387031″ type=”iframe” hyperlink=”Source”]