The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday decided 14-1 that the security wall being built in Israel is illegal. The decision states that “the construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated regime, are contrary to international law.”

The court also decided construction of the wall must stop and Israel must compensate Palestinians for damages they have already suffered.

Israel’s reaction was swift: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the construction of the wall continued.

The Jerusalem Post reported that although the construction of the wall is being rerouted, the change was made because of a June 30 ruling of Israel’s supreme court, not because of the ICJ.

“What counts is the decision of the Supreme Court of the State of Israel,” said Israeli Foreign Ministry’s deputy director-general for public affairs Gideon Meir.

The United States replied in kind, brushing off the ICJ ruling.

And no one can stop the United States or Israel.

The theme for at least the past year is that if you have the power to do so, you can ignore the international community. The ICJ’s ruling is nonbinding, but if the issue is taken to the U.N. Security Council, the council has the power to impose sanctions on Israel. According to the Jerusalem Post, the United States will veto sanctions if that happens, making the ICJ ruling useless because the United States will ensure that Israel not be held accountable by the court that’s supposed to be able to hold the world accountable.

That’s not surprising coming from the United States. Just a year ago, the United States trampled and mocked the United Nations as coalition troops marched into Iraq. The United States only returned to the United Nations when the mission proved to be harder than expected, and even then, the United States would only let the United Nations get involved if the United States set all the rules.

It’s a sad day when political accountability boils down to little more than the law of the jungle: the big guys get their way.

But we’re not just blaming the Israelis. We’re also blaming their American allies who set the recent precedent a year ago and are giving the A-OK today.