Arrest Warrants Cause IDF Officers To Cancel U.K. Trip
Britain’s attorney general said Tuesday that she was aware of the urgent need to address the slew of arrest warrants being issued in her country against Israeli officials over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
Attorney General Baroness Patricia Janet Scotland made her remarks after a delegation of senior Israel Defense Forces officers canceled a planned visit to the U.K. for fear they would be arrested upon landing.
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Tuesday appealed to Scotland to find an immediate solution to the “intolerable” situation, warning that the U.K. legal system’s acceptance of pro-Palestinian group’s lawsuits threatened to “undermine relations” between the two countries.
“If the British law remains unchanged, this would undermine the good relations between the two countries who share common values and interests. The British must bear in mind that these visits serve both countries,” he said.
The Foreign Ministry last month 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 Foreign Ministry, a day after it emerged that opposition leader Livni had canceled her trip to Britain after the warrant was issued for her arrest.
In the wake of that incident, British authorities said they would seek to see amendment to the law enabling such warrants.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
