The Hague Institute for International Co-operation was launched in The Hague, Netherlands last week. This meeting brought together international lawyers and experts from different Nations to discuss and formulate legal position papers related to Israel and the Middle East conflict. The Hague is the International Law Capital of the world where Nations come to mediate world conflicts.

On Wednesday, June 28 – 29 in The Hague more than thirty international lawyers and experts from around the world came together to discuss the complex issues relating to the Israeli-Arab conflict, thus providing new and unique insights and perspectives. The uniqueness of the new initiative lies in the fact that it aims at providing decision makers and international officials legal position papers and issue briefings on issues of the legality of East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.
Latino Coalition for Israel (LCI) President, Pastor Mario Bramnick, one of the participants, discussed the “New Era of U.S. – Israel Relationships under President Trumps Administration” Pastor Bramnick explained how the new initiative will further strengthen the work of the Pro-Israel Movement in the United States. “A combination of solid legal arguments and the unique outreach of LCI will make our work even more effective in the future” stated Bramnick.

June 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1967 “Six Day War” which Israel gained control of “East Jerusalem”, Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights, the “Gaza Strip” and the Sinai (the “Territories”). 2017 is also the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration issued by the British government, that led to the San Remo resolution (1920), the Mandate for Palestine (1922) and ultimately the creation of the State of Israel (1948).
Since the mid-1970’s, international diplomacy has sought to promote an Arab-Israeli peace agreement by presuming that claimed Palestinian rights to statehood and sovereignty over all of the “Occupied Territories” are well-founded under international law, and that competing Israeli claims with respect to these territories are groundless.

Recently, the UN Security Council in Resolution 2334 (23rd December 2016) condemned all Israeli settlements activities in the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” as a “flagrant violation” of international law. In the January 2017 “Peace Summit” in Paris a number of nations adopted a statement claiming that the two-state solution based on a “full end” to the “occupation” of the Territories is “the only way to achieve enduring peace”.
The position papers of The Hague conclude that the statement by the United Nations Security council that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the territories are illegal is both incorrect and misleading. Pastor Mario stated “It is therefore of the utmost importance to review the international legal framework applicable to the so called “territorial status” of “East Jerusalem” Judea and Samaria, and to explore the relevance of international law to the formulation of foreign policy.”