S'pore views Israel's settlements in West Bank as illegal under international law: Vivian Balakrishnan

On Jul. 19, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an opinion that Israel's settlement policy in occupied Palestinian territories is in breach of international law.

A panel of 15 judges said that Israel must end the construction of settlements immediately, as it renders "Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful".

The advisory opinion is non-binding, but such opinions "carry great legal weight and moral authority", with the ICJ saying that they play a role in preventive diplomacy and contribute to clarifying international law.

Israel did not send a legal team to the hearing and claimed that questions put to the court were prejudiced and did not address its security concerns.

Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan noted the advisory opinion and mentioned it on Jul. 22, during his speech in an event announcing the handover of Singapore's fourth tranche of aid.

Singapore's consistent opposition to Israeli settlements in West Bank

Vivian said Singapore is studying the opinion "very carefully", and pointed out that Singapore's position on the Israeli settlements is long-standing and has been clear and consistent.

"We view Israel's settlements in the West Bank as illegal under international law.

These settlements, in fact, make it much harder to arrive at a negotiated two-state solution."

Singapore has consistently voted in supported of United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolutions that reject Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Vivian also pointed out that Singapore has voted in favour of all UN General Assembly decisions calling on Israel to rescind all unilateral measures to change the status of Jerusalem.

Status of Jerusalem

Back in 2017, then-U.S. president Donald Trump moved to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, instead of Tel-Aviv, and pledged to move the U.S. embassy there.

Singapore voted in favour of the resolution that called upon the U.S. to drop its recognition of Jerusalem as such.

Singapore's position has consistently been that neither Israelis nor the Palestinians can change the status of Jerusalem on their own (i.e. unilaterally).

Instead, the city's status should be decided upon by direct negotiations between both sides.

Supporting PA's capacity-building efforts

Vivian also emphasised that a "durable, just, and comprehensive solution" to the conflict can only be found through direct negotiations between both sides.

"As I have said in Parliament on Jul. 2, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a long-standing, complicated one.

Singapore's principled position is that both sides need to find the political will to resume negotiations with the support of the international community in order to make progress towards a two-state solution consistent with the United Nations Security Council resolutions."

Meanwhile, Singapore will continue supporting the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority's capacity-building efforts through the Enhanced Technical Assistance Package.

Singapore recently hosted a group of officials from the Palestinian Authority on a study visit.

They learned about the applications of artificial intelligence and the use of data in assisting with decision-making in public service.

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