UK urged to arrest Israeli President Isaac Herzog during London visit

London, United Kingdom – “Starmer rolls retired reddish carpet for genocide,” reads the front-page header of The National, a Scottish daily, arsenic choler mounts implicit the British premier minister’s gathering with Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president.

Herzog is understood to person arrived successful the UK connected Tuesday. He volition conscionable the premier, Keir Starmer, connected Wednesday and is reportedly readying to talk astatine the Chatham House deliberation vessel aboriginal successful the day. He is expected to permission connected Friday.

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Herzog’s visit, which comes during a week erstwhile Israel has dropped bombs connected Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Qatar, has prompted calls for his apprehension portion helium is successful London.

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has written to Scotland Yard, demanding that the Israeli president beryllium investigated upon his accomplishment successful the UK, “on suspicion of bearing transgression liability for alleged warfare crimes”, the radical said.

“Herzog is suspected of bearing transgression liability for alleged warfare crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, and actions that represent plausible genocide,” said ICJP.

Protests condemning the sojourn began earlier this week. Demonstrators volition stitchery with pots and pans astatine Chatham House successful an effort to disrupt the president’s code there.

Friends of Al-Aqsa, a UK-based NGO that calls for governmental alteration regarding Palestine, has applied to the manager of nationalist prosecutions and lawyer wide to motorboat transgression proceedings against Herzog connected charges of encouraging indiscriminate attacks connected Palestinians successful Gaza and the Strip’s civilian infrastructure. It has besides sought an apprehension warrant against Herzog. More than 64,000 Palestinians person been killed successful Israel’s warfare connected Gaza since October 2023.

“British politicians person failed to support the Palestinians and champion the regularisation of law. There is present an accidental for the courts to intervene,” said Ismail Patel, seat of Friends of Al-Aqsa. “It’s clip to extremity impunity and uphold planetary law

“Every official, nary substance however senior, indispensable beryllium held accountable for attacks connected civilians.”

Herzog, president since 2021, has travel nether occurrence for the comments helium made successful October 2023 aft the Hamas-led incursion into confederate Israel, during which astir 1,200 radical were killed.

“The full [Palestinian] federation retired determination … is responsible. It is not existent this rhetoric astir civilians not aware, not involved,” helium said.

Two months later, helium signed an artillery ammunition destined for Gaza.

Sacha Deshmukh, caput of Amnesty International UK, said portion Herzog’s presumption is mostly ceremonial, “he has chosen to usage it to support corporate punishment”.

“This sojourn is simply a trial of enactment and principle: polite handshakes and lukewarm words volition show neither. The UK volition beryllium judged connected whether it took beardown enactment against genocide, oregon helped to whitewash it.”

The travel is definite to upset ample sections of nine who judge the authorities is astatine likelihood with nationalist opinion. Tens of thousands person demonstrated against Israel’s onslaught for astir 2 years. A YouGov canvass successful July showed that much than fractional of Britons judge Israel’s actions successful Gaza are unjustified.

Green Party person Zack Polanski besides called for Herzog’s arrest.

“Welcoming a imaginable warfare transgression to the UK is different objection of however this Labour authorities is implicated successful the ongoing genocide successful Gaza,” helium said. “A refusal to detain Herzog tin beryllium seen arsenic a contravention of the Geneva Convention, which makes wide that states person ineligible work for preventing the targeting of civilians. When this is breached, individuals indispensable beryllium prosecuted, and this should beryllium applied to Herzog.”

Dozens of lawmakers, including the salient Labour person Diane Abbott and autarkic MP Jeremy Corbyn, signed a missive by Labour’s Andy McDonald to Starmer, which said the sojourn “risks suggesting the UK is indifferent to its planetary ineligible responsibilities”.

Zarah Sultana, who besides signed the letter, addressed protesters successful London connected Tuesday.

Herzog has “dehumanised an full colonisation and openly called for their extermination”, said the autarkic lawmaker, adding that the sojourn shows “this Labour authorities is complicit, is enabling genocide”.