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58 Ariz. L. Rev. 633 (2016)
Palestine, Uti Possidetis Juris, and the Borders of Israel

handle is hein.journals/arz58 and id is 656 raw text is: PALESTINE, UTI POSSIDETIS JURIS, AND THE BORDERS OF ISRAEL Abraham Bell* & Eugene Kontorovich Israel's borders and territorial scope are a source of seemingly endless debate. Remarkably, despite the intensity of the debates, little attention has been paid to the relevance of the doctrine of uti possidetis juris to resolving legal aspects of the border dispute. Uti possidetis juris is widely acknowledged as the doctrine of customary international law that is central to determining territorial sovereignty in the era of decolonization. The doctrine provides that emerging states presumptively inherit their pre-independence administrative boundaries. Applied to the case of Israel, uti possidetis juris would dictate that Israel inherit the boundaries of the Mandate of Palestine as they existed in May, 1948. The doctrine would thus support Israeli claims to any or all of the currently hotly disputed areas of Jerusalem (including East Jerusalem), the West Bank, and even potentially the Gaza Strip (though not the Golan Heights). TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........ 634 I. TiHE DOCTRINE OF UTI POSSIDETIS JURIS..... .................................... 640 A. Development of the Doctrine ............................ ...... 640 B. Applying the Doctrine ................................................ 644 II. UTIPOSSIDETIS JURIS AND MANDATORY BORDERS ....................... 646 A. The Mandate of Mesopotamia ................................. 648 1. The Mosul Question ....................................... 649 2. Iraqi-Kuwaiti Border ....................................... 651 B. The Mandate of Syria. ........................................652 * Professor, Bar Ilan University Faculty of Law and University of San Diego School of Law. ** Professor, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. An earlier version of this paper was presented at a conference at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Legalities and Legacies: The Past, Present, and Future of the Palestine Mandate in International Law), and the authors are grateful to conference participants for their helpful comments and criticisms.

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