Chief Justice Barak: Israelis can be tried by Hague Tribunal

Israel may not have ratified the treaty establishing the international criminal court on July 1 but "every Israeli is subject to its jurisdiction," Supreme Court President Justice Aharon Barak said Monday.

Speaking at the second annual conference of the Israel Bar Association in Eilat, Barak said "terror does not justify abandoning legal norms, even if the war against terror is that of a law-abiding state and law-abiding citizens against those who crudely and without any human feelings violate the law. Neither are human rights a platform for national suicide and self-defeat."

The 1,000-person conference on "The Law under Fire" heard Barak, Judge Advocate General Maj. Gen. Menachem Finkelstein, and other leading jurists and attorneys - including prominent human rights lawyer Avigdor Feldman on the integrity of the law and the courts during war.