(Jerusalem Post Jan 5, 2010 ) Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon met with Britain's Attorney-General Baroness Scotland of Asthal in Jerusalem on Tuesday, to discuss the issue of changing UK law to prevent the arrest of Israeli officials and officers.
During the meeting, Baroness Scotland said that she is aware of the importance that Israel attributes to finding an urgent solution to this problem, and that the British are currently considering different courses of action aimed at solving the problem. Ayalon called the current situation "insufferable," and said, "This will make it difficult for the two countries to maintain a normal relationship." The deputy foreign minister also bewailed the manipulation that organizations hostile to Israel were making of British law to carry out their goals. He stressed that most Israeli citizens - not just political figures and high-ranking officers - serve in the IDF. It goes against Britain's best interests, he said, to deter Israelis from visiting the country.
Shortly before the meeting it was revealed that a delegation of IDF officers canceled a planned visit to the UK last week, after the British hosts failed to guarantee that arrest warrants would not be issued against the invitees. Read full story at source (photo) Kadima leader Tzipi Livni.
Background:
(Mail Online 05th January 2010)
A group of Israeli military officers called off an official visit to Britain last week over fears they could be arrested on war crimes charges, officials said today.
The four unidentified soldiers, who hold ranks from major to colonel, are the latest in a string of Israeli politicians and military officials forced to call off travel to Britain because of fear of legal prosecution.
Britain is one of the European pioneers of universal jurisdiction, a broad legal concept that empowers judges to issue arrest warrants for nearly any visitor accused of committing war crimes anywhere in the world.
Pro-Palestinian activists have sought to use this concept to press charges against Israelis involved in military operations in Palestinian territories, particularly since last year's offensive in the Gaza Strip.
British officials have vowed to change the law, which has severely strained relations with Israel.
The delegation had been invited to visit by the British Army. Officials said they were forced to call off the trip after their counterparts could not guarantee that they would not be arrested.
BBC News reported 15 December 2009 that Israel is in fury at UK attempt to arrest Tzipi Livni
Tzipi Livni: "It's about time to put terrorists on trial and not those who try to stop terror"
Israel has reacted angrily to the issuing by a British court of an arrest warrant for the former Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni.
The warrant, granted by a London court on Saturday, was revoked on Monday when it was found Ms Livni was not visiting the UK.
Ms Livni was foreign minister during Israel's Gaza assault last winter. It is the first time a UK court has issued a warrant for the arrest of a former Israeli minister.
Ms Livni said the court had been "abused" by the Palestinian plaintiffs who requested the warrant. "What needs to be put on trial here is the abuse of the British legal system," she told the BBC. read full story here
Political Theatrics reported December 15, 2009 that: After Livni Arrest Warrant, Israel Accuses The UK Of Hypocrisy
The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called for an end to the “absurd situation” in which arrest warrants were being issued to Israeli officials over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
“Only actions can put an end to this absurd situation, which would have seemed a comedy of errors were it not so serious,” said the Israeli Foreign Ministry, a day after it emerged that opposition leader Tzipi Livni had canceled her trip to Britain after a warrant was issued for her arrest.
Senior officials in Tel Aviv confirmed reports on Monday that a British court had issued an arrest warrant against Livni for her role in orchestrating Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip nearly a year ago. read full story here
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