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Expert: International Law Only Prohibits Taking Territory in a War of Aggression
(JNS) Israel Kasnett - The formal U.S. recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli sovereign territory "will doubtless be met by responses that it violates, or condones violation, of international law and will encourage forcible annexation of territory," Eugene Kontorovich, director of International Law at the Jerusalem-based Kohelet Policy Forum and professor of International Law at George Mason University, told JNS. But "these international legal arguments lack merit." The relevant international law "only prohibits taking territory in a war of aggression." "If international law does not allow attacked countries to make border changes in some circumstances, it would actually invite aggression because the attacking country would be ensured against losses to the defender....Israel's sovereignty has only been recognized after it made multiple good-faith peace efforts to return the territory; after Syria lost all legitimacy by committing mass atrocities; and, of course, after a 52-year waiting period."