Israel and Britain: The Reaction to the Livni Arrest Warrant

Having denied initially that a British court had issued an arrest warrant for former Foreign Minister and current Leader of the Opposition Tzipi Livni, Israel shifted to condemnation on Tuesday. Livni told the BBC:

What needs to be put on trial here is the abuse of the British legal system. This is not a suit against Tzipi Livni, this is not a law suit against Israel. This is a lawsuit against any democracy that fights terror.

At a press conference in Tel Aviv, she continued, "Israel must do what is right for Israel, regardless of judgements, statements and arrest warrants. It's the leadership's duty, and I would repeat each and every decision."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the warrant "an absurdity" and declared:

We will not accept a situation in which [former Israeli Prime Minister] Ehud Olmert, [Defence Minister] Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni will be summoned to the defendants' chair.

We will not agree to have Israel Defence Force soldiers, who defended the citizens of Israel bravely and ethically against a cruel and criminal enemy, be recognised as war criminals. We completely reject this absurdity taking place in Britain.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry added, "Israel rejects the cynical act taken in a British court," and summoned the British Ambassador to Israel to deliver a rebuke.

As for Britain, its diplomats quickly moved to put the British judiciary in its proper place. The Foreign Office stated, "Britain is determined to do all it can to promote peace in the Middle East, and to be a strategic partner of Israel. To do this, Israel's leaders need to be able to come to the UK for talks with the British government."Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the law allowing judges to issue arrest warrants against foreign dignitaries, without any prior knowledge or advice by a prosecutor, must be reviewed and reformed. He added, "Israel is a strategic partner and a close friend of the United Kingdom. We are determined to protect and develop these ties. Israeli leaders - like leaders from other countries - must be able to visit and have a proper dialogue with the British government."

Comments

[naj]

to be a strategic partner of Israel Yeah they weren't even trying to be diplomatic about fact that they were going to put the judiciary in its place--whether it was right or wrong--for having risked UK's "strategic" partnership and "great friendship' with Israel ...

[Hossein]

What utter hypocrites the Brits are. Let us not forget that it was some of the ill-devised policy of GB that lead to the initial complexities and problems in the region. Also, I find this Israel bashing wave to be utter nonsense. Iranians are eager to see the legitimate rights of the Israelis. Let us not forget that hundreds of millions have tried to push this tiny nation (yes of free and creative people who live under due process) into the sea, and I find this to be unethical and a severe abuse of the fundamental rights of a nation to exist. What have the fundamentalist despotic Arab regimes and Islamic groups done for their own people, nothing. They have pilfered the funds given to them (read stolen) and have sacrificed innocent youth for their own gains. And they have replaced happiness and a genuine path to the pursuit of happiness with the path of death and destruction and have imposed a minority culture of "kill!"; people want life and are fed up with death and killing and all of that dark culture they are imposing. There is a clear road to peace. Islam and the Arab states must recognize the fundamental and inalienable right of Israel to exist and to thrive as the only real democracy in the entire Middle East—especially now that Turkey is rapidly going down the hole of fundamentalist Islamic hate mongering and is curtailing the rights of its citizens all by fooling them all with death slogans. I fear secular democracy is dying in Turkey and this is very very sad and will have dire consequences for all those who seek freedom and democracy in the ME.

[rezvan]

There is a very simple solution to the Israeli/Palestinian dispute. Since Israel is unwilling to accept a Palestinian state as defined by various UN resolutions and other agreements. The simple answer is Israel should offer all Palestinians Israeli citizenship and give them all rights enjoyed by all Israelis. This would save the Arabs from having to put up with despotic arab regimes. It would be a good humanitarian gesture on part of the Israelis and demonstrate their peace loving nature.