by Charly Wegman
JERUSALEM, Aug 24 (AFP) - Israel's top law officer has recommended the government considers applying the Fourth Geneva Convention to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a move which would implicitly acknowledge the occupation in the Palestinian territories.
A report compiled by a justice ministry team, overseen by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, said that the government should "thoroughly examine" the possibility of applying the protocol which governs the treatment of civilians in occupied land.
The report, published in Tuesday's Haaretz daily, was commissioned in the wake of a non-binding ruling in July by the International Court of Justice against the legality of Israel's West Bank separation barrier.
Israel has refused to apply the convention in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, arguing that they were not sovereign territories before their capture in the 1967 Six Day War.
Gaza had been under Egyptian military control while the West Bank had been annexed by Jordan, a move recognised by only a handful of governments.
Israel has agreed to the implementation of the humanitarian aspects of the protocol but not to its political aspects, which would involve an acknowledgement of the occupation.
At the moment, Israel refers to the areas as "disputed" territories.
"The real reason that Israel has so far drawn back from this text is that it never wants to acknowledge that the territories are occupied and that the settlements are forbidden," said Moshe Negbi, the legal affairs expert for Israeli public radio.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon caused a political storm in May last year when he used the phrase occupation in an address to deputies from his Likud party.
"You may not like the word, but what's happening is occupation," he insisted.
However he was later forced to backtrack, insisting he had been misunderstood. After being contacted by then attorney general Elyakim Rubinstein, Sharon instead referred to the "disputed" territories.
Yuval Steinitz, the chairman of the parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee, reacted angrily to the recommendation, saying that the issue was beyond the competence of Mazuz and his team.
"Mazuz is in no position to measure the international and security consequences of his recommendations.
"This should not be determined by a legal perspective as Israel has to take into consideration a number of other criteria," Steinitz, a member of the Likud, told public radio.
Matan Vilnai, a senior MP with the main opposition Labour party, also voiced reservations about the report's recommendations.
"The recommendations must obviously be studied but I wouldn't rush to accept them as it could cause serious mililtary problems," he said.
Mazuz has already warned that the world court ruling, which the Sharon government has pledged to ignore, could lead to the imposition of sanctions by the international community.
The ICJ, the United Nations' top legal body, said that parts of the barrier built inside the West Bank were illegal and should be torn down, a ruling which has been endorsed by the UN General Assembly.
The justice ministry refused to comment on the Mazuz report.