Israel should not be asked by the International Court of Justice to unilaterally withdraw from occupied Palestinian territories because this would disregard Israeli security needs, a US official said. “Whatever the court’s opinion on the legal consequences of particular violations of international law, such an outcome would be contrary to an established framework which the [UN] Security Council and General Assembly have structured,” said Richard Visek, acting legal adviser for the US Department of State. Visek added that the US “respectfully encourages the court to carefully calibrate its advice in this proceeding.”
