UK Police Tried to Question Israeli Politician About War Crimes

Police in the UK last week served Israeli politcian Tzipi Livni with a summons for questioning about Israel's three week 2008 bombing campaign of the Gaza Strip that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, the Middle East Eye reported Sunday.

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The summons was delivered to the Israeli Embassy in London Thursday but later withdrawn when British diplomats intervened and approved a status of “special diplomatic assignment,” for Livni, insulating the former Israeli minister from prosecution. The 57-year old Livni, who has served as minister of Justice, Agriculture and Foreign Affairs, among other portfolios, was in the U.K. to speak Sunday at the Haaretz Israel Conference to discuss the relationship between Israel and the U.K. Jewish community.

The questioning would have focused on violations of the Geneva Convention committed by Israeli forces during Operation Cast Lead that began in December 2008 when Livni was Israel¨s foreign minister. According to a United Nations report, most of the Palestinians killed during the campaign were civilian women and children, while 10 of the 13 Israelis killed were soldiers. Livni reportedly responded angrily to the series of events, calling the U.K. justice system a “theatre of the absurd”.

“We do not summon U.K. ministers for questioning, and we expect the same respect,” Livni told conference attendees in London, as published by The Middle East Eye.

She also expressed to the crowd that Israel is increasingly becoming a “ghetto” in the Middle East, and that the boycott campaign against the apartheid state is creating a “defensive Jewish identity”.

Livni's previous visits to London have been accompanied by multiple protests and calls for her to be investigated for war crimes for her role in Operation Cast Lead. An arrest warrant was issued in 2009 and Livni cancelled her trip at the time. In 2011, British law was changed to make it more difficult to prosecute Israeli officials visiting the country.