At a press conference on the report held at UN Headquarters on October 26, 2017, Lynk compared Israel with North Korea, called for boycotts and sanctions against Israel, and expressed his desire "for the international community ... to begin to review Israel's status as a law-abiding Member State of the United Nations."
In his words:
"I suggest the first step is for the United Nations to investigate whether they agree with my legal analysis that Israel is now an illegal occupant. If it finds it is an illegal occupant, then I think the United Nations is in a position either through asking for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice and through its own internal mechanisms to begin to develop a range of successively more important or more imposing measures, sanctions, against Israel as long as it remains in illegal occupation of the territories... Just remember this, you know if you compare-and the only reason I'm doing this comparison is for a very specific reason, because Israel is not North Korea. But if there are sanctions against North Korea, North Korea actually has very little to do in terms of trade with the outside world. Israel is very dependent upon trade with the outside world. It's very dependent upon its market in the United States. It's very dependent upon its market with Europe. If there was an understanding that all of a sudden Israelis wanting to travel abroad needed to have visas; if all of a sudden Israel wasn't going to get preferential trading agreements with the EU; if all of a sudden the many and multitude of forms of military, or economic cooperation, or academic cooperation with Israel were now going to come to an end as long as Israel continued that, I think you'd begin to see a sea change in the attitude of ordinary Israelis and in the attitude of the Israeli government with respect to that. But that has to happen."
Lynk's report includes the following:
"65. A determination that Israel's role as occupant is now illegal would serve several significant purposes. First, it would encourage member states to take all reasonable steps to prevent or discourage national institutions, organizations and corporations within their jurisdiction from engaging in activities that would invest in, or sustain, the occupation. Second, it would encourage national and international courts to apply the appropriate laws within their jurisdiction that would prevent or discourage cooperation with entities that invest in, or sustain, the occupation. Third, it would invite the international community to review its various forms of cooperation with the occupying power as long as it continues to administer the occupation unlawfully. Fourth, it would provide a solid precedent for the international community when judging other occupations of long duration. Most of all, such a determination would confirm the moral importance of upholding the international rule of law when aiding the besieged and the vulnerable.
V. Recommendations
66. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government of Israel bring a complete end to the 50 years of occupation of the Palestinian territories in as expeditious a time period as possible, under international supervision.
67. The Special Rapporteur also recommends that the United Nations General Assembly:
(a) Commission a United Nations study on the legality of Israel's continued occupation of the Palestinian territory;
(b) Consider the advantages of seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the question of the legality of the occupation;
(c) Consider commissioning a legal study on the ways and means that UN Member States can and must fulfill their obligations and duties to ensure respect for international law, including the duty of non-recognition, the duty to cooperate to bring to an end a wrongful situation and the duty to investigate and prosecute grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions.
(d) Consider the adoption of a Uniting for Peace resolution with respect to the Question of Palestine, in the event that there is a determination that Israel's role as occupier is no longer lawful."
