Israel Matzav

Ehud Barak escapes arrest

On Tuesday night, I reported that a British court had been asked to order the arrest of Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on 'war crimes' charges arising out of Operation Cast Lead this past winter. Later, I updated the post to say that the court had postponed the hearing, but as it turns out, the court threw out the petition altogether. Still, says Phyllis Chesler, that is little comfort to anyone in the IDF who is not a member of the government.

In fact, according to Ynet, a Defense Ministry source said the petition was denied following a recommendation by the British Foreign Office. Justice Daphne Wickham rejected the claim altogether, saying that while the papers filed with the court seemed “serious,” under “international law Barak has diplomatic immunity and therefore cannot be prosecuted.”

For now, the British government is protecting Minister Barak. But what about an Israeli civilian-soldier who is not a diplomat? What if an Israeli soldier or ex-soldier is traveling in Europe, Asia, or Africa: What then? Will governments protect ordinary Israelis from becoming prey?

Please recall: The Palestinians leadership launched the al-Aqsa Intifada in the fall of 2000. It continues to this day. The Palestinians have mainly targeted Israeli civilians with bombs and rockets. Lethal anti-Israeli propaganda, boycotts, demonstrations by human rights groups, academics, pro-Palestinian Muslim, Christian, and Jewish groups soon followed, all of which condemned Israel for defending herself and which portrayed the Palestinian aggressors as “victims.”

Please also recall: In 2005, “human rights groups criticised British authorities for failing to arrest Doron Almog, an Israeli general for whom an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes had been issued when his aircraft landed in London. Almog stayed on the plane at Heathrow after being informed that he could face arrest and was allowed to return to Israel.”

Indeed, the Almog case was the first that came to mind last night when I heard of Barak's plight, although recalling the attempt to arrest Ariel Sharon in Belgium in 2001, I was fairly confident Barak could not be arrested.

Chesler ends her post with what is essentially a prayer for sanity to prevail so that ex-IDF soldiers can travel without fear of arrest every time they reach a foreign port. But the first place sanity needs to prevail is the United States of America.

Until the American President acknowledges that the independent judicial systems of self-critical democratic countries are entitled to greater deference than the kangaroo courts of Iran, Libya, Venezuela and the 'international community,' attempts to arrest people like Ehud Barak and Robert Gates and Gabi Ashkenazi and David Petraeus for 'war crimes' will continue. Until the 'leader of the free world' begins to acknowledge and assert the exceptionalism of the United States, Israel and other democracies, there will be no sanity in the world.

Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen. At the United Nations last week, the 'leader of the free world' abdicated his position in favor of a perverse internationalism.

What could go wrong?

Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:23 PM