Israel said today it would not attend a World Court hearing on whether it should teardown a barrier taking in Jewish settlements on occupied West Bank territory that Palestinians want for a state.
Israeli officials say the barrier being erected inside the West Bank is meant to keep out suicide bombers and has thwarted dozens of attacks.
Palestinians call it a bid to annex land they need for a viable state since it snakes deep into the West Bank.
The stalemate underlined the paralysis in Middle East peacemaking and came a day after Israel killed 15 Palestinians in a major army assault into the Gaza Strip, triggering vows oflarge-scale suicide attacks by vengeful Palestinian militants.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office, announcing theboycott, said special legal advisers feared the World Court session would lend credence to a case that Israel sees as politically motivated and beyond the tribunal's jurisdiction.
Israel would make do with an affidavit it filed with the court last month outlining these misgivings, the office said.
A World Court spokeswoman said hearings would go ahead asplanned.
Any ruling by the tribunal, based in The Hague, would benon-binding, but Israel is concerned a finding against it wouldbe so influential that it might spawn UN Security Councilaction against it.
