International Court of Justice
International Court of JusticeReuters

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague has suspended its deliberations on a petition submitted by the Palestinian Authority (PA) against the United States during the Trump era, following the former president’s formal recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from its former home in Tel Aviv.

According to a report in Israel Hayom, the judicial proceedings, which were initiated in September of 2018, have been suspended “until further notice.” The PA had argued that the United States violated international law with its actions regarding Jerusalem, which should therefore be defined as war crimes. The ICJ had intended to deal with the case in June of 2021, but it has now emerged that several months prior to that date, the PA submitted a request asking that the proceedings be frozen. An examination of the ICJ’s records reveals that the request was coordinated with the Biden administration.

A letter to the ICJ dated April 12, 2021, reads: “The State of Palestine has requested the suspension of oral proceedings that were to have been held on June 1, 2021, in order to provide the parties with the opportunity to find a solution to their dispute via negotiations.” A week later, the Biden administration issued its response, and the ICJ’s records note that the United States “is not opposed to the request of the petitioner. Taking into account the opinions of the two sides, the Court has decided to suspend hearings until further notice.”

It is to be presumed that the Palestinians decided that it was in their best interest to have legal proceedings frozen in order to advance their negotiations with the Americans for the reopening of the American Consulate for Palestinian affairs in Jerusalem. The Israeli government was already aware of the freezing of proceedings, regarding it as a mere technicality and noting that “proceedings can be renewed at any moment.”

In an interview with the Al Arabiya media network, the head of the Political Science Department at Hebron University, Bilal Al Shobaki, said, “The Palestinian retreat here is designed to display goodwill to Washington, in order to strengthen the ties between them. The Palestinian leadership understands that appealing to the ICJ will not bring about anything tangible with regard to Palestinian interests.”

He added that, “Palestine is too weak to achieve anything with Washington via international organizations. Washington has the ability to force the international organizations – even the UN Security Council – to follow its line.” He even suggested that the PA’s decision to appeal to the ICJ to adjudicate the transfer of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem was nothing more than “a publicity stunt, designed to justify the continued existence of the Palestinian Authority.”