British judge rejects arrest warrant for Ehud Barak

A judge in Britain has rejected a demand by Palestinian activist groups for the arrest of Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on the grounds that he committed "war crimes" during the IDF offensive in the Gaza Strip earlier this year. Barak, who also heads the Israeli Labor Party, was in the UK to attend the annual conference of the British Labor Party of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Palestinian human rights groups had hoped to take advantage of Britain's principle of universal jurisdiction and have Barak arrested.

However, Israeli officials argued that the defense minister was immune from prosecution because of his status as a senior government official and said his visit would continue as planned. The British Foreign Office told the court that Barak was a state guest and thus not subject to such lawsuits. The suit was brought by the Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza City and Ramallah-based al-Haq.