Israel’s former Justice Minister, MK Tzipi Livni, was summoned last week by British police for questioning over alleged war crimes.
Livni received a letter on Thursday regarding the summons which was later cancelled following talks between Israel and the UK, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported.
Haaretz said Scotland Yard’s War Crimes unit wished to question Livni, a Zionist Union Knesset member, on suspicion of involvement in war crimes during “Operation Cast Lead” in Gaza in 2008. At the time, she was foreign minister, vice prime minister and a member of the diplomatic-security cabinet in Israel.
UK Govt manufacturers a diplomatic meeting to protect Tzipi Livni from a Scotland Yard war crimes inquiry summons https://t.co/ZjPeJI8HW2
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 3, 2016
Livni was in the UK last week to participate in a conference organized by Haaretz and the British Jewish community.
The summons was “on a voluntary basis” and by consent, a senior Israeli official was quoted by Haaretz.
In 2011, UK law was changed to make it more difficult to obtain arrest warrants for Israeli public figures visiting in an official capacity.
(PC, MEMO)
