London court issued arrest warrant against Tzipi Livni for alleged war crimes

Israel officials have strongly criticized an arrest warrant issued by a British magistrates court against the former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni over her role during the Gaza war earlier this year. "The current situation has become intolerable, it is time that it change," Israel’s ambassador in London, Ron Prosor, told a radio station. "I am convinced that the British government will understand that it is time to react and not content itself with declarations."

In Jerusalem, the Foreign Ministry called on the British government to end the "absurd situation" in which arrest warrants were being issued to Israeli officials over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip and warned that ties between the two countries could suffer as a result. "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, adding: “If Britain does not immediately amend the law allowing arrest warrants to be issued against Israeli officials, the relations between our states will suffer.”

The arrest warrant against Livni, current leader of the opposition in the Knesset, was understood to have been issued on Saturday, a day before she was scheduled to speak at an event in London. However, Livni’s office said that the trip had been canceled because of scheduling problems. The warrant was later canceled when it became clear that Livni had not entered the United Kingdom.  

A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office told the news agency AFP that it was urgently assessing the implications of the warrant. "The UK is determined to do all it can to promote peace in the Middle East, and to be a strategic partner of Israel," she said. "To do this, Israel's leaders need to be able to come to the UK for talks with the British government. We are looking urgently at the implications of this case."

It marked the latest incident in which British courts have issued, or have been asked to issue, arrest warrants for Israeli officials. In September, pro-Palestinian activists sought to have Defense Minister Ehud Barak arrested over his role in the Gaza war, but a court denied the request on the grounds of diplomatic immunity.

In 2005, a retired Israeli general, Doron Almog, avoided arrest in Britain by returning to Israel without leaving the plane that had landed him in London, having learnt that an arrest warrant had been issued against him.