(Haaretz).The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned the British envoy to Israel to rebuke him over the arrest warrant issued for Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
The Foreign Ministry earlier Tuesday had called on the British government to end the “absurd situation” in which arrest warrants were being issued to Israeli officials over alleged war crimes in Gaza, warning that ties between the two countries could suffer as a result.
Israel views the arrest warrant with utmost gravity, Naor Gilon, deputy director at the Foreign Ministry in charge of Western Europe, told British ambassador Tom Phillips.
Gilon also called on Phillips to urge his government to change the law that allows for arrest warrants to be issued against senior Israeli officials over alleged war crimes perpetrated in Gaza during the winter conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“Only actions can put an end to this absurd situation, which would have seemed a comedy of errors were it not so serious,” said the Foreign Ministry, a day after it emerged that Livni had canceled her trip to Britain after a warrant was issued for her arrest.
The ministry warned that in indulging the arrest warrant, the British government was hampering its own efforts at playing a role in Middle East peace negotiations.
“We appreciate the British government’s desire to play a central role in the Middle East peace process, and thus we expected it to translate the importance it gives its relations with Israel into actions,” said the ministry.
“Israel urges the British government to once and for all honor its promises to take action to prevent anti-Israel forces from exploiting the British legal system to act against Israel and its citizens, the ministry said. The absence of resolute and immediate action to redress this distortion harms relations between the two countries,” it added.
Kadima MK Shaul Mofaz urged Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to recall Israel’s envoy to London for consultations in Jerusalem.
Vice Premier Silvan Shalom urged the ministry to make “real diplomatic” efforts to it clear that Israel would not accept such behavior.
“We are all Tzipi Livni,” he said. “The time has come for us to move from the defensive to the offensive. We must use real diplomacy here, to tell Britain, Spain and all those other states that we will not stand for this anymore.”
In response to the warrant, Livni said Tuesday that she would not accept any accusation that compared Israel Defense Forces soldiers to terrorists.
“I have no problem with the fact that the world wants to judge Israel,” said Livni. “We are part of the free world. The problem starts when they equate terrorists and Israeli soldiers.
The Foreign Ministry earlier Tuesday had called on the British government to end the “absurd situation” in which arrest warrants were being issued to Israeli officials over alleged war crimes in Gaza, warning that ties between the two countries could suffer as a result.
Israel views the arrest warrant with utmost gravity, Naor Gilon, deputy director at the Foreign Ministry in charge of Western Europe, told British ambassador Tom Phillips.
Gilon also called on Phillips to urge his government to change the law that allows for arrest warrants to be issued against senior Israeli officials over alleged war crimes perpetrated in Gaza during the winter conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“Only actions can put an end to this absurd situation, which would have seemed a comedy of errors were it not so serious,” said the Foreign Ministry, a day after it emerged that Livni had canceled her trip to Britain after a warrant was issued for her arrest.
The ministry warned that in indulging the arrest warrant, the British government was hampering its own efforts at playing a role in Middle East peace negotiations.
“We appreciate the British government’s desire to play a central role in the Middle East peace process, and thus we expected it to translate the importance it gives its relations with Israel into actions,” said the ministry.
“Israel urges the British government to once and for all honor its promises to take action to prevent anti-Israel forces from exploiting the British legal system to act against Israel and its citizens, the ministry said. The absence of resolute and immediate action to redress this distortion harms relations between the two countries,” it added.
Kadima MK Shaul Mofaz urged Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to recall Israel’s envoy to London for consultations in Jerusalem.
Vice Premier Silvan Shalom urged the ministry to make “real diplomatic” efforts to it clear that Israel would not accept such behavior.
“We are all Tzipi Livni,” he said. “The time has come for us to move from the defensive to the offensive. We must use real diplomacy here, to tell Britain, Spain and all those other states that we will not stand for this anymore.”
In response to the warrant, Livni said Tuesday that she would not accept any accusation that compared Israel Defense Forces soldiers to terrorists.
“I have no problem with the fact that the world wants to judge Israel,” said Livni. “We are part of the free world. The problem starts when they equate terrorists and Israeli soldiers.