Jerusalem: Israel today (July 21, 2004) vowed that it would go ahead with building the West Bank separation fence, disregarding UN General Assembly's overwhelming adoption of a resolution condemning the construction of the barrier. "The building of the fence will go on" Ra'anan Gissin, a senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said.

"Israel will not stop building it or abdicate its inalienable right to self-defence," Gissin said.

An overwhelming 150 countries, including India, voted in favour of the resolution, six against and ten abstained.

Apart from Israel, the US, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Palau and Australia voted against the resolution in the Assembly.

Israeli officials said that as far as Tel Aviv was concerned, France played a devastating role in rallying support for the draft among EU nations. Britain and Italy, however, objected to the draft and demanded changes.

The resolution demands that Israel comply with the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and bring down the fence constructed on Palestinian land and pay compensation to those whose life was affected by the move.

The Assembly's vote, like The Hague ruling, is not legally binding, but carries symbolic weight and can be diplomatically debilitating.