Spain issues warrants for minister, former IDF chiefs
Spain has issued arrest warrants for current infrastructure minister and former defense minister Binyamin (Fouad) Ben Eliezer (pictured), former IDF chiefs of staff Moshe ("Boogie") Yaalon and Dan Halutz and several other high ranking IDF officers to charge them with murder over the IDF's 2002 pre-emptive attack against senior terrorist Salah Shehadeh. Shehada was killed in an Israel Air Force strike in July 2002, shortly before his plans to send a truck loaded with 600 kilograms of explosives to a Jewish celebration in Gush Katif were to be implemented. Slated to succeed Sheikh Ahmed Yassin as leader of Hamas, Shehada was responsible for hundreds of attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers, and the deaths of dozens of Israelis.The warrants require that the accused be arrested the next time they set foot on Spanish soil. I trust that won't be happening anytime soon. I guess it's still 1492 in Spain.
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Ben-Eliezer of the Labor Party, currently Minister of Infrastructures, was Minister of Defense at the time of the successful liquidation of Shehada. Spain also seeks to arrest then-IDF chief Lt.-Gen. (res.) Moshe Yaalon, then-IAF chief Lt.-Gen. (res.) Dan Halutz (also a former Chief of Staff), then-Southern District Commander Gen. (res.) Doron Almog, then-National Security Council head Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland, and Ben-Eliezer's military advisor Mike Herzog.
The PA suit was filed in Spain by the Palestinian Committee for Human Rights (PCHR), which claimed that the one-ton bomb was too powerful to be dropped on a residential neighborhood.
Arutz-7's Shimon Cohen notes, however, that it had been widely known during the period of the attack that Shehada and other terrorist leaders often took refuge behind children and other civilians in order to avoid being targeted by Israel. The IDF made it clear afterwards that the bombing of the building in which Shehada was hiding was done only after it was ascertained that no civilians - except possibly the terrorist's wife and daughter - were in his vicinity. The mission had been postponed numerous prior times when it was feared that civilians would be hurt.
In the event, however, 14 civilians were killed, and Israel was widely criticized from all quarters. Gen. Halutz's statement at the time, that all he felt when dropping a bomb was "a small bump in the side of the plane" - designed to express support for his pilots - added to the poor international perception of Israel's humanitarian image at the time.
The PCHR often works in tandem with left-wing organizations in Israel, and refers to the IDF (Israel Defense Force) as the Israel Occupation Force.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:44 AM
5 Comments:
Its interesting the suit was filed by the representatives of the "good" terrorists of the PA. They're saying in effect its lawful for Palestinians to mass murder Jews and its illegal for the Israeli government to defend them. Its none of Spain's business what Israel does to defend itself. Then again, the issuance of arrest warrants by a Spanish court shows that where Jews are concerned, they are pariahs in Spain. Its a good bet Israelis won't be visiting the country any time soon.
darn...
spain (as a shipping choice) just got deleted from 6 websites that i have...
NormanF,
Until Zapatero defeated Jose Maria Anzar in 2004 (a few days after the al-Qaeda terror attack on Madrid's Atochea train station), Spain was actually quite pro-Israel and pro-West. Anzar had sent troops to Iraq, but Zapatero withdrew them immediately upon being elected.
I was in Spain myself in 2001.
With the EAW in place, I guess they can't even switch planes anywhere in the EU.
and what about the war criminals and their victims?
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