Israeli Army Chief Granted ‘Diplomatic Immunity’ to Visit UK – Report

December 14, 2024 News
Israeli chief of staff, General Herzi Halevi. (Photo: Adi Cohen Zedek, via Wikimedia Commons)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Halevi’s visit came just three days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

The UK government granted a “special mission certificate” to the Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi affording him “temporary diplomatic immunity” for the duration of his visit to Britain last month, Declassified UK has revealed.

In response to a parliamentary question from Labor MP Brian Leishman, the Foreign Office confirmed on Wednesday that it “gave consent for special mission status for the visit to the UK on 24-25 November of Lieutenant General Herzl Halevi, Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, and delegation.”

Halevi met with senior UK officials from the Defense Ministry and Foreign Office to discuss “the ongoing conflicts in Lebanon and Gaza,” in addition to meeting with Britain’s attorney general, Richard Hermer, the report said.

His visit came just three days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for “crimes against humanity and war crimes,” compelling the ICC’s 124 member states to arrest them should they enter their territory.

Private Arrest Applications

According to Declassified UK, Halevi was “initially reported to have been included in the ICC’s arrest applications for the crime of having ‘deliberately starved Palestinians in Gaza’.”

Although he was ultimately not named in the arrest warrants, the news organization said it was “possible to issue private arrest applications in Britain under universal jurisdiction legislation.”  Such an application “allows for the most serious crimes to be prosecuted regardless of where they are committed.”

By issuing Halevi with the “special mission certificate,” the UK government effectively “blocked this avenue for redress,” said the report, “granting him temporary diplomatic immunity for the duration of the visit.”

Decision Condemned

The move was criticized by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) spokesman Jonathan Purcell as undermining the UK’s global position “by associating so closely with a pariah state.”

“It seems beyond belief that the UK attorney general could meet with the head of the IDF, mere days after arrest warrants were issued for Netanyahu and Gallant,” he told Declassified UK.

“Halevi may not yet have an arrest warrant himself, but regardless, the International Criminal Court Act 2001 obliges the UK to investigate, arrest and prosecute suspected war criminals,” Purcell said, adding that the attorney general’s meeting with Halevi was “utterly reckless.”

New Legislation

In 2011, the UK government passed new legislation “requiring the consent of the director of public prosecutions (DPP) before universal jurisdiction arrest warrants could be issued.”

The amended law followed a 2005 incident in which a private arrest application was issued “for retired Israeli general Doron Almog over alleged war crimes committed in Gaza.” Almog was tipped off and remained on his plane before returning to Israel. This led to a “years-long campaign” by the Israeli government to prevent such possible incidents.

‘Obligation’ – ICC Urges Member States to Comply over Arrest Warrants

The shift in UK policy was precisely “what the Israeli government had lobbied for,” said the report, as the reforms meant that it would “no longer be possible to issue a private jurisdiction arrest application directly to a British court.”

Indicating how the changes were implemented with Israeli officials in mind, the report added, the country’s then-foreign secretary William Haque had said “We cannot have a position where Israeli politicians feel they cannot visit this country.”

Israeli Officials

Since the amended law, the UK government has issued over 50 special mission certificates to officials from various countries including Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Rwanda.

Of those, 16 were issued to Israeli officials including Netanyahu, former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, and the former Israeli military intelligence directorate chief Amos Yadlin, said the report.

Since the onset of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza last October, two special mission certificates have been granted to Israeli officials. These included Israeli politician Benny Gantz who received immunity to visit the UK in March this year and Halevi for his visit last month, the report stated.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 44,875 Palestinians have been killed, and 106,454 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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