A concerted campaign is being waged against Israel to question its very legitimacy in virtually every aspect of its historical, political, and cultural life, with the aim of undermining the very foundations of Israel’s existence. In response, several world-renowned experts have joined to present an authoritative exposition of Israel’s Rights as a Nation-State in International Diplomacy, edited by Alan Baker, former legal counsel of Israel’s Foreign Ministry and former ambassador to Canada, and published jointly by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and the World Jewish Congress. This book explains clearly why the Jewish people deserve a state of their own and refutes all the major claims against Israel’s rights.
Contents
Introduction and Overview
Amb. Alan Baker
The National Rights of Jews
Prof. Ruth Gavison
“An Overwhelmingly Jewish State” – From the Balfour
Declaration to the Palestine Mandate
Sir Martin Gilbert
Self-Determination and Israel’s Declaration of
Independence
Prof. Shlomo Avineri
The United Nations and Middle East Refugees: The Differential Treatment of Arabs and Jews
Dr. Stanley A. Urman
Israel’s Rights Regarding Territories and the Settlements
in the Eyes of the International Community
Amb. Alan Baker
The Historical and Legal Contexts of Israel’s
Borders
Prof. Nicholas Rostow
The Misleading Interpretation of Security Council
Resolution 242 (1967)
Prof. Ruth Lapidoth
Defending Israel’s Legal Rights to
Jerusalem
Amb. Dore Gold
Palestinian Unilateralism and Israel’s Rights in
Arab-Israeli Diplomacy
Dan Diker
Is the Gaza Strip Occupied by
Israel?
Col. (ret.) Pnina Sharvit-Baruch
The Violation of Israel’s Right to Sovereign Equality in
the United Nations
Amb. Alan Baker
Countering Challenges to Israel’s
Legitimacy
Prof. Alan M. Dershowitz
About the Authors
• Prof. Ruth Gavison, Professor (emerita) of Human Rights at the Faculty of Law of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and recipient of the Israel Prize in Law
• Sir Martin Gilbert, world-renowned British historian and author, Winston Churchill’s official biographer
• Prof. Shlomo Avineri, Professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University and former Director-General of the Israel Foreign Ministry, Israel Prize recipient
• Dr. Stanley A. Urman, Executive Director of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC)
• Amb. Alan Baker, former legal counsel of Israel’s Foreign Ministry and former ambassador to Canada
• Prof. Nicholas Rostow, senior director of the U.S. National Defense University’s Center for Strategic Research
• Prof. Ruth Lapidoth, former legal adviser to Israel’s Foreign Ministry and member of Israel’s negotiating team, Israel Prize recipient
• Amb. Dore Gold, former ambassador to the United Nations and President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
• Dan Diker, Secretary-General of the World Jewish Congress and Adjunct Fellow of the Hudson Institute in Washington
• Col. (ret.) Pnina Sharvit-Baruch, former head of the IDF International Law Department who served as legal adviser to Israeli negotiating teams in 1993-2009
•Prof. Alan M. Dershowitz, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School
