"...Israel has never claimed legal title to all of the territory of the former British Mandate of Palestine. On the contrary, it has repeatedly denied such a claim in official statements and acts.
"On May 22, 1948, soon after Israel's declaration of independence, the country's representative to the U.N. Security Council stated that its territory was 'the area outlined in the map appended to the resolution of 29 November 1947, as constituting the area assigned to the Jewish state' -- namely that area accorded to the nascent Israel by the U.N. Partition Plan contained in General Assembly Resolution 181.
"This did not include the West Bank.
"The same view was consistently expressed by Israeli courts.
"In 1950, Israel's Supreme Court ruled, 'The territory of the state of Israel does not coincide with all the territory under the former mandate.'
"Israel thus refused to be seen as the successor state to the Palestinian mandate. Accordingly, it refused to accede to treaties that bound the mandate and refused to pay the public debt that Palestine owed to Britain.
"How then can there be a right of Israeli settlement in the West Bank, territory to which Israel itself has never made legal claim?"
Why do you suppose Israel refused to accede to mandate treaties?
Possibly for the same reason Israel has never formally declared borders?
International Law...
"On May 22, 1948, soon after Israel's declaration of independence, the country's representative to the U.N. Security Council stated that its territory was 'the area outlined in the map appended to the resolution of 29 November 1947, as constituting the area assigned to the Jewish state' -- namely that area accorded to the nascent Israel by the U.N. Partition Plan contained in General Assembly Resolution 181.
"This did not include the West Bank.
"The same view was consistently expressed by Israeli courts.
"In 1950, Israel's Supreme Court ruled, 'The territory of the state of Israel does not coincide with all the territory under the former mandate.'
"Israel thus refused to be seen as the successor state to the Palestinian mandate. Accordingly, it refused to accede to treaties that bound the mandate and refused to pay the public debt that Palestine owed to Britain.
"How then can there be a right of Israeli settlement in the West Bank, territory to which Israel itself has never made legal claim?"
Why do you suppose Israel refused to accede to mandate treaties?
Possibly for the same reason Israel has never formally declared borders?
International Law...