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By Harry de Quetteville in Jerusalem
(Filed: 28/02/2006)

[See original story below]

Israel yesterday demanded a change in British law after a senior Israeli army officer cancelled a trip to the UK fearing he would be charged with war crimes.

Brigadier-General Aviv Kochavi, who headed army units in the Gaza Strip until Israel ended its occupation of the territory in August, had been due to spend the summer at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London.

Shaul Mofaz:: angered

But he shelved the trip after taking legal advice that he risked being served with an arrest warrant. The affair prompted an angry response from Israel’s defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, who told the Israeli media that Brig Gen Kochavi had “the full support of Israel”.

He also called on “countries that suffer from terrorism at home” not to take legal action against “soldiers and officers who acted legally against vicious and atrocious terror”.

Brig Gen Kochavi, who was the last Israeli soldier to leave the Gaza Strip and officially closed the gate to settlements there behind him, could face arrest in Britain under a private war crimes prosecution.

Last September, another senior Israeli army officer was forced to stay on his plane at Heathrow when he heard that he would be arrested after passing through passport control. Major General Doron Almog flew back to Tel Aviv after the Israeli Ambassador in London told him en route that a campaign group had filed charges against him over the destruction of Palestinian homes.

Other Israeli army officers, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, now in a coma, and the former air force chief Dan Halutz, have also faced the prospect of war crimes charges filed against them in Europe.

The case against Gen Halutz relates to the assassination of Hamas leader Saleh Shehada in August 2002, during which an Israeli plane dropped a one-ton bomb on the apartment building where Shehada was staying, killing him – but also 14 bystanders.

Fearing arrest, IDF officer cancels studies in U.K.

www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/687468.html

w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m

Last update – 20:24 26/02/2006

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent

The commander of the Israel Defense Forces division on the Gaza border, Brigadier General Aviv Kochavi, was forced to cancel his planned trip to the United Kingdom after the Military Advocacy suggested that he refrain from commencing studies at the Royal College of Defense Studies this summer, fearing that he would be arrested.

During the implementation of the disengagement from Gaza and in the months preceding it, Kochavi served as the commander of IDF forces in the Strip. During Operation Defensive Shield, in 2002, he was deployed as a senior commander in the paratroopers.

Consultations on Kochavi were held recently in the State Prosecution’s international department, as well as in the Military Advocacy.

Military Advocate General Brigadier-General Avichai Mendelblit suggested that Kochavi abandon plans to study at the RCDS, in light of an arrest warrant issued some six months ago against former GOC Southern Command Doron Almog.

Last year, Almog had to cancel a visit to the U.K. and return to Israel without disembarking the plane, after learning that a criminal complaint had been filed for his alleged involvement in war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Because he had not passed border control, he was not considered to have entered Great Britain and therefore could not be handed an arrest warrant.

British law allows citizens to file private criminal complaints against military personnel because of war crimes, even if they are citizens of foreign countries, and even if the alleged crimes were not committed on British soil. Under these circumstances, the suspect can be arrested upon his or her arrival in the U.K.

The request for Almog’s arrest was issued by Judge Timothy Workman in London, at the request of the firm of Hickman and Rose, which specializes in human rights law. Almog was apparently suspected by the London authorities of gravely violating the Geneva Convention, a criminal violation according to British law.

Senior military officials seemed concerned by recent developments surrounding Kochavi, saying similar scenarios are likely in additional countries in western Europe, including France and Spain. According to the officials, Mendelblit may recommend that senior officers who served during the intifada not visit these countries.