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TEL AVIV, October 5, 2009 (WAFA)- Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon recently canceled a planned trip to Britain for fear of being arrested there, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Monday.
Ya'alon was invited to London to attend a fund-raising dinner for Benji's Home, a group home for soldiers with no family in Israel. The project is the initiative of the parents of Maj. Benji Hillman, who was killed in the Second Lebanon War.
Ya'alon was asked to attend the dinner by the British branch of the Jewish National Fund, which is helping the Hillmans raise money for the project, and said he would if the Foreign Ministry's legal department okayed it.
As chief of staff of the Israeli army in 2002-5, Ya'alon is one of several current and former senior officers whom pro-Palestinian groups have sought to put on trial over the assassination of Salah Shehadeh in July 2002. The attack also killed 14 civilians.
When Ya'alon consulted the Foreign Ministry's legal team, they warned that the groups might ask a British court to order his arrest should he visit Britain. They also opined that despite being a minister, he would not enjoy diplomatic immunity, and therefore, the court might accede.
As a result, Ya'alon informed JNF Britain that he would not be able to attend the dinner.
Last week, when Army Minister Ehud Barak visited London, pro-Palestinian groups sought his arrest for alleged war crimes during January's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. However, the court ultimately decided not to hear the request immediately, enabling Barak to leave London in peace.
In 2004, when pro-Palestinian groups sought the arrest of then-Army minister Shaul Mofaz during a visit to London, a judge ultimately ruled that he did have diplomatic immunity, and could therefore not be arrested.
In London, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign(PSC) said the decision by Ya’alon not to travel to the UK for fear of being arrested on war crimes charges has been welcomed by organisations campaigning for Palestinian human rights.
The PSC, Britain’s largest organisation campaigning for solidarity with the Palestinian people, said the decision revealed that war criminals were now nervous about stepping foot on British territory.
Sarah Colborne, Director of Campaigns and Operations at PSC, said this was a result of the determination of campaigners seeking to bring Israeli war criminals to justice.
Ms Colborne added: 'Israeli war criminals must not be allowed to come into Britain, walk freely and remain unpunished. We are committed to bringing those responsible for war crimes against Palestinians to justice.'
Mr Ya’alon was warned by his legal advisors of possible charges over his involvement in the 2002 assassination of Shehadeh that killed 14 other people. He had been due to attend a charity event in London next month.
Last week (29 September), campaigners, including Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Martin Linton, gathered to protest outside the Grand Hotel, Brighton, at the presence of Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, at the Labour Party conference.
Barak was saved from arrest after the Foreign Office upgraded his visit from private to ‘special status’ – giving him diplomatic immunity from charges of war crimes.
He was responsible for ordering the December 2008/January 2009 attack on Gaza, which resulted in the deaths of 1,400 Palestinians in three weeks. Many of the Israeli actions during that period were condemned as war crimes by the Goldstone Report, released by the UN Human Rights Committee in September 2009.
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