Mr. President of the Republic,
Israeli settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory violates the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, international humanitarian law (Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention), and international criminal law (Article 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). In its advisory opinion of 9 July 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) confirmed the illegality of Israeli settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Although France's concrete action against Israeli colonization following this opinion was very late and limited, it nevertheless took the form of three concrete measures:
- An opinion from the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs dated June 25, 2014, warning against the legal and economic risks of investing in the colonies
- a notice from the Ministry of Economy and Finance dated November 24, 2016 to economic operators relating to the indication of the origin of goods from the Territories occupied by Israel since 1967 (specific labeling of products from Israeli settlements).
- administrative bans from February 13, 2024 for 28 Israeli settlers guilty of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
A strengthening and expansion of these measures is necessary since Israel has built around 300 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which continue to expand and now house more than 760,000 inhabitants.
In its advisory opinion of 19 July 2024, the ICJ declared Israel's occupation of the Palestinian Territory unlawful. The Court stated that this occupation is unlawful both in its nature, as it violates the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, and in its effects, as it is accompanied by systematic and serious breaches of international humanitarian law (including the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements) and systemic violations of international human rights law committed by the Israeli army and military administration.
However, to date, France has ignored this ICJ opinion and has not taken any concrete steps to implement its obligations of non-recognition and non-aid and assistance to the unlawful situation created by the continued illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territory.
The association Jurists for Respect for International Law (JURDI) asks you to adopt measures in this direction.
Although the French authorities have some latitude in choosing the measures to adopt to comply with these two obligations, they are nevertheless required to do everything possible to implement the opinion of July 19, 2024 and thus take action.
We propose, in particular, that you consider various measures within the framework of this implementation.
The first step is to commission, as quickly as possible, a comprehensive audit of the relations and policies pursued by French authorities (ministry by ministry) with Israel. This audit must include the relationships and cooperation established by agencies, public institutions, research organizations, local authorities, businesses, and associations with their Israeli partners in order to identify any activity linked to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory. This audit will allow for the adoption of immediate measures to end any such activity and to establish an effective monitoring and enforcement mechanism.
Pending the completion of this audit, it already appears essential to immediately suspend all institutional, administrative, military, security, economic, financial, scientific and cultural cooperation between French authorities (ministries, agencies, public establishments, research operators, local authorities) and Israeli entities operating in the settlements or contributing to the occupation, including by providing data, technologies, funding or infrastructure located beyond the Green Line.
Other measures should also be taken to comply with international law. Economic and financial measures:
- prohibit French companies from retaining or acquiring stakes in Israeli companies with activities in the settlements or related to the occupation.
- to order French financial institutions and investors (banks, insurance companies, public funds) to cease all financing, investment or banking services for the benefit of Israeli companies involved in settlements or the occupation.
- prohibit the importation of products from the colonies (there is currently only informative labeling on these products).
- to exclude from French public procurement all Israeli, French and foreign companies operating in the settlements or involved in the occupation.
- adopt guidelines for tour operators / tourism stakeholders / online booking platforms to avoid any form of support for companies operating in the colonies or involved in the occupation.
- prohibit all financial transactions from citizens, organizations and businesses to settlements and Israeli companies involved in settlement activity or occupation.
- adopt measures to prevent/prohibit the settlement of French colonists and the purchase of real estate in the colonies.
- adopt an opinion prohibiting French companies from any activity or investment in or related to the colonies (there is currently only an opinion outlining the risks to which companies are exposed) or with the occupation.
- remind French companies, subject to the law on the duty of vigilance, that they are required to identify, prevent and stop any direct or indirect contribution to colonization and occupation, in particular through their supply chains, their technological partnerships, their subsidiaries or their Israeli service providers operating in the Palestinian Territory.
And administrative and judicial measures:
- suspend links and activities with natural persons (political, military, administrative officials, business leaders, association leaders) and legal persons (ministries, public institutions, local authorities, companies, associations) involved in or supporting Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
- adopt sanctions (travel bans, asset freezes) against political and military officials who participated in or supported the commission of international crimes in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.
- to demand criminal prosecutions against citizens with dual French and Israeli nationality who served in Israeli army units that participated in military operations in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.
- prohibit French citizens from performing their military service in Israel or from joining the Israeli army.
- suspend all cooperation with universities / laboratories / research institutes having links with the Israeli military-industrial complex or recognizing Israeli colonization or occupation as acceptable.
- prohibit any French cooperation, research or teaching activity in Israeli settlements and institutions participating in colonization or occupation.
- sanction all French and European settlers (visa ban, seizure of their assets).
- remove French-Israeli settlers from the electoral lists of the French consulates in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa.
- to strip violent Franco-Israeli settlers and Franco-Israeli military personnel who participated in colonization or occupation of their nationality.
- to demand criminal prosecution of French citizens who, as settlers or as volunteers in Israeli army units deployed in the West Bank, commit acts of violence against the Palestinian civilian population.
- dissolve French associations involved in financing the colonies.
- prohibit all cultural, sporting, academic, trade union contact with the settlements, their inhabitants and the Israeli institutions that support them.
- suspend all export licenses for arms, components, dual-use technologies, surveillance software and cybersecurity that may contribute to the occupation or serious violations of international law in the Palestinian Territory, in accordance with Article 7 of the Arms Trade Treaty.
- suspend all security or military cooperation with Israeli military and police units operating in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.
Finally, initiatives appear to need to be taken by France within the European and international frameworks:
- at the European level, to propose targeted sanctions against individuals and institutions involved in the occupation, criminal investigations against those responsible for and involved in the colonization and occupation, a ban on the import of products from Israeli settlements, a ban on any provision of services and any financial transfers to Israeli settlements, and the suspension of the EU-Israel trade agreement and the Horizon program.
- within the UN framework, to propose sanctions against Israel and those responsible for colonization and occupation (UNGA, United Nations agencies, UN committees, Human Rights Council).
- within the framework of the International Criminal Court, to bring a state request before the Court to support its jurisdiction to investigate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to request the Prosecutor to investigate the war crime of colonization and all war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the occupation.
- within the framework of the International Court of Justice, to bring before the Court a state request against Israel with a view to obtaining its condemnation for non-compliance with the opinions of 9 July 2004 and 19 July 2024.
JURDI remains at your disposal to discuss this subject and to help you define and implement these measures.
The President
Patrick ZAHND
