A London court issued, then revoked, an arrest warrant for former Israeli prime minister, Tzipi Livni. The BBC reports on the Israeli and British government responses…
Livni: “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.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “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…”
British foreign office: “The UK 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.”
The FPA Israel Blog offers additional analysis, commenting that perhaps Israel and the UK “need relationship counseling.”
