מדינת ישראל State of משרד החוץ Ministry of Foreign Affairs

LEGAL POLICY AND ADVOCACY UPDATE – December 2010

Best Wishes for 2011!

Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law

Israel's security cabinet decides to accept, in principle, the proposal of the UN and the UNIFIL Commander, which is based upon an IDF withdrawal from the northern part of Ghajar and its redeployment south of the 'Blue Line'. For more information and background see HERE

Israel's Parliament passes the "Referendum Law"

Gaza Operation Investigations

Robert Perry Barnidge posted his piece on "The Principle of Proportionality under International Humanitarian Law and Operation Cast Lead". Available HERE.

On 21 November, 2010, two Israeli soldiers convicted by a Military Court of unlawful conduct committed during the Gaza Operations were sentenced to three months of probation and demoted from the rank of staff sergeant to sergeant. Read more HERE

Gaza Flotilla Investigations

Dr. Barry A. Feinstein of Netanya Academic College in Israel says that Israel navy's actions against the Gaza Flotilla complied with , despite the Human Rights Council's report to the contrary. Read more HERE

Israeli-Arab Conflict

Prof. Robbie Sabel has published an article titled "International Legal Issues of the Arab- Israeli Conflict: An Israeli Lawyer's Position" available HERE

Several States have recently declared recognition of a Palestinian State. For a critical analysis of the declaration, read Alan Baker's piece "Recognition of a Palestinian State – Premature, Legally Invalid, and Undermining and BonaFide Negotiation Process" HERE

Alan Baker has also published an article titled "The Settlements Issue: Distorting the Geneva Convention and the Oslo Accords" which is available HERE

Development and International Cooperation

OECD Secretary General visits Israel to enhance cooperation – read more HERE

מדינת ישראל State of Israel משרד החוץ Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Advocacy Tools

Founder of Human Rights watch, Bob Bernstein, speaks of Human Rights Organizations and Israel HERE

Divest This - An anti-divest resource, especially for Campus activities HERE. Notice the published BDS handbook HERE

Delegitimisation: Israel’s new battlefield… and how to respond by Andrew White for Beyond Images HERE

FAQ : The Campaign to defame Israel on MFA Website

Foreign Ministry launches YouTube Israel channel

The online course for effective Israeli Advocacy on the Internet "Digital Diplomat" was launched in November. Digital Diplomats is a joint project of HonestReporting and Awesome Seminars, giving effective strategies for online engagement. Read more and Sign Up HERE

Stand With Us Organization published a series of booklets on Israel – Multicultural Israel, Innovative Israel, Humanitarian Israel and Environmental Israel, available in English HERE

Our advocacy website has been recently updated – check it out HERE

Upcoming Events

The 14th Congress of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, on the subject of "Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State" will take place from February 2 to 5, 2011 in Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. For additional details and registration see IAJLJ website or contact [email protected]. Notice that Public Workers in Israel will be acquitted one paid day for participation.

This Update was prepared by Yfat Barak of the Legal Adviser's Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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