Palestine angers Israel with Criminal Court bid

EAST JERUSALEM , West Bank, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed the International Criminal Court treaty Wednesday, a step in eventual prosecution of Israel for war crimes. Signing the treaty, known as the Rome Statute, and 22 other international agreements Wednesday, had long been threatened by Palestine. It is the first element in joining the court and another move toward a declaration and acceptance of statehood. It came immediately after a United Nations Security council resolution, calling for the end of Israeli occupation of the West Bank by 2017, was rejected. Joining the court could lead to prosecution of Israel in the global forum for alleged war crimes it committed during the 50-day war in Gaza during the summer.

The defeat in the United Nations, and a prior collapse of U.S.-led peace talks, prompted Abbas to action, he said.

"We want to complain. There's aggression against us, against our land. The Security Council disappointed us," Abbas said.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Palestinian Authority, which rules Palestine, should instead fear the international court, since it is "in a unity government with Hamas (which controls Gaza), a declared terrorist organization who, like ISIS (Islamic State), commits war crimes. We will deflect this further attempt to impose us with dictates, just as we deflected the Palestinian (resolution) at the U.N. Security Council."