Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated the issuing of an arrest warrant for former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in London “borders on the absurd”, with senior officials in Jerusalem warning this situation cannot be permitted to continue, that senior Israeli officials must fear arrest warrants for their role in Operation Cast Lead.
Netanyahu and other senior cabinet ministers have stated it is unconscionable that senior Israeli officials are targeted with legal action for making the decision to defend the citizens of Israel from ongoing Hamas terrorism based in Gaza.
The prime minister stated the government will not accept a situation in which senior government officials and IDF commanders who acted bravely to defend the nation against this threat be regarded as war criminals.
Addressing the Conference on Security Challenges in the 21st Century at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, the prime minister made his position extremely clear, in both Hebrew and English, so the world will understand the position of the Government of Israel.
President Shimon Peres called the issuance of the warrant against Livni, today head of the Knesset opposition, “One of Britain’s most serious political errors of late”.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband met on Tuesday with Israeli Ambassador to London Ron Prosor, promising his government will aggressively address the situation, seeking to mend political fences.
At the same time, British Ambassador to Israel Tom Phillips came to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, where he met with the Naor Gilon, deputy director of the European Desk, to discuss the matter. Phillips also met with National Security Advisor Prof. Uzi Arad, who state Israel expects London to take the necessary action to prevent senior Israeli officials from being targeted with legal action for fulfilling their responsibility and defending the nation and its citizens.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman spoke on the phone with Miliband as well, agreeing they would remain in contact and work in concert towards correcting the situation.
While touring Arad on Tuesday, Lieberman added that the ministry expects British officials to act, explaining that if senior Israeli officials may not visit London without fear of legal action, then Britain must understand this will negatively impact London’s desire to play a more involved role in Mideast peace-making efforts.
MK (Kadima) Shaul Mofaz, who also addressed the Tel Aviv security conference, called on officials to recall Jerusalem’s ambassador to London to evaluate the situation. Mofaz, a former defense minister, is among those lawmakers targeted by the pro-Arab legal actions.
Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom added “We are all Tzipi Livni” and the time has come to stop defending ourselves and to move to the offensive.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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4 Responses
The English system (unlke the United States, with a few exceptions on a state level) allows private citizens to initiate criminal prosecutions. Based on the major English newspapers, the result of all this is probably a ban or restriction on private citizen prosecution in England. The rule in the United States is that a private citizen may complain to the police or public prosecutor, but criminal charges are only brought by the government through its designated prosecutor (United States Attorney, District Attorney, etc.).
akuperma, go check out the Amicus Curie Brief that the Agudah and the Z.O.A. filed and see that your explanation is irrationale. As usual, you start up with your immoral equalization. Sorry, not all sides are equal.
#2 — It turned out that there was never an attempt by the Crown (the Executive branch) to initiate charges. Unlike most places in the US, in England one can go to court and file a criminal charge, which leads to the judge issuing a warrant. That is what happens. The case never gets litigated. One can not have an Amicus brief until a case gets appealed.
Did you mean to post this by the article on the UK court finding it racist for a school to accept non-religious Jews with a Jewish mother, while rejecting “conservative/reform” Jews who aren’t Jews by halacha but consider themselves to be.
When someone performs a dreadful act, it is customary for their name to be on the 6 o’clock news. Not so with the errant UK Judge. Why?
His name should be known, to alert us to any furure dreadful acts yet to come, and help us to judge them for what they truly are.
Also, it may be informative to “PROFILE” this judge, and see of his Profile is similar to others known to have performed “dreadful acts”.
Yours very truly, Santini