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In
a letter, Lapid asked more than 50 heads of state, including
those of the UK and France, to pressure the Palestinian
Authority, which exercises limited rule in the occupied West
Bank, and prevent it from promoting the resolution at the
General Assembly.
The resolution, approved by a U.N. committee in early November,
asks that the ICJ to "urgently" weigh in on Israel's "prolonged
occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian
territory", which it said were violating the Palestinians' right
to self-determination.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem - areas
that Palestinians want for a state - in a 1967 Middle East war.
"This resolution is the outcome of a concerted effort to single
out Israel, to discredit our legitimate security concerns, and
to delegitimize our very existence," Lapid wrote in a copy of
the letter shared with the press.
The status of disputed territory should be subject to direct
negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Lapid said,
adding that bringing the matter before the ICJ "will only play
into the hands of extremists".
U.S.-sponsored negotiations stalled in 2014 and senior members
of Israel's likely incoming coalition government have opposed
Palestinian statehood.
(Reporting by Henriette Chacar; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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