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Howard Grief

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Howard Grief 1989
Yuval Neeman, Howard Grief and his wife Ilana
Yuval Neeman, Howard Grief and his wife Ilana
Letter sent by Sir Martin Gilbert to Howard Grief
Letter sent by Sir Martin Gilbert to Howard Grief

Howard Grief (19 April 1940 - 2 June 2013) was a Jerusalem-based attorney and notary born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served as the adviser on Israel under international law to Yuval Ne'eman while Ne'eman was the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure in the Yitzhak Shamir Government.

Biography

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Howard Grief was born and educated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada where he attended Baron Byng High School, McGill University, and McGill Law School, obtaining degrees in Arts and Law. He became a member of the Bar of Quebec in 1966 and was a self-employed practicing attorney for 23 years, principally in the fields of civil and commercial law.[1] In August 1989, Grief immigrated to Israel together with his Jerusalem-born wife and their two sons.

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In May 1991, Grief was admitted to the Israel Bar Association and became a notary. In December 1991, he was appointed by Yuval Ne'eman, then Minister of Energy and Infrastructure in the Yitzhak Shamir Government, to be his legal adviser in international law on matters pertaining to the Land of Israel.[2]

He petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to annul the Oslo Accords in 1999, and advanced the thesis that de jure sovereignty over all of Palestine was devolved upon the Jewish People at the 1920 San Remo Peace conference.

Views and opinions

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In 1999, Grief presented the "Petition to Annul the Interim Agreement" to Israel's Supreme Court claiming that the agreements between Israel and the PLO were illegal both under constitutional and criminal Israeli law. The Supreme Court called the petition "a political position" and would not deal with it.[3]

Grief drew attention to the wider scope of the 1920 San Remo conference,[4] His thesis was that de jure sovereignty over the entire Land of Israel (Palestine) was vested in the Jewish People as a result of the reference to the Balfour Declaration, adopted at the San Remo Conference in April 1920.[5] Grief maintained that Israeli politicians and jurists, including the authors of the 2012 Levy Report failed to grasp the full importance of the "San Remo Resolution",[4] a term he coined to clarify his position, according to the Algemeiner.[6]

Grief laid out his thesis in his 2008 book The Legal Foundation and Borders of Israel under International Law.[7]

Published works

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References

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  1. ^ "Howard Grief, 73, staunch fighter for land of Israel". Jewish Tribune. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26.
  2. ^ Grief, Howard. "Legal Rights and Title of Sovereignty of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel and Palestine under International Law" (PDF).
  3. ^ "Howard Grief". Ariel Center for Policy Research (ACPR). Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  4. ^ a b Parsons, David (21 August 2012). "Making the case: Howard Grief proves Israel is legally a Jewish state with the San Remo resolution of 1920". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  5. ^ Yonah, Tamar (27 November 2008). "'Land for Peace? Peace for Peace'". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  6. ^ "Howard Grief on Algemeiner".
  7. ^ Grief, Howard (2008). The Legal Foundation and Borders of Israel under International Law. Jerusalem: Mazo. ISBN 9789657344521.
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