Analyzing the UN Partition Plan and Israel's Declaration of State

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Exploring the legal implications of the UN's 1947 partition plan for Israel and Palestine, including Israel's acceptance of the plan, the declaration of the state of Israel, and the lack of legal authority of the UN General Assembly in creating nations and borders.

To international law expert Eugene Kontorovich of George Mason University, all the arguments that make Israel out to be an occupying force collapse under the weight of a single, simple fact: A country cannot occupy territory to which it has a legal claim. Listen as Kontorovich speaks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the legal issues surrounding occupation as well as the moral issues of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. They also discuss the crazy-quilt legal environment of jurisdiction in the West Bank in the aftermath of the Oslo Accords of 1993. Finally, they explore the likely outcomes of current proposals for a Palestinian state in the West Bank.