BICOM

Retired IDF Maj.-Gen. Danny Rothschild cut short a visit to London this week after the Israeli embassy warned him that he was in danger of being arrested if he stayed in the country. The latest incident with Rothschild came a few days after former-defence minister Amir Peretz also left the UK over concerns that an arrest warrant would be issued against him for the role he played during the Second Lebanon War.

Rothschild arrived in the UK earlier in the week and delivered a lecture to the Royal United Services Institute. He was also supposed to speak in Parliament on Tuesday and to another think tank but after receiving the warning from the embassy, he left the country. Rothschild and Peretz could be arrested under the universal jurisdiction law, which allows for citizens to file arrest warrants. The UK legislature has been working to change the law and in December, a Police and Social Responsibility Bill passed the power to issue universal jurisdiction from individual magistrates to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The bill has not yet been approved in both houses of parliament and it is expected to take up to several months before it receives royal assent.

Meanwhile, UK Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould said yesterday that the amendment to the law passed the House of Commons and is expected to become law later this year. “The proposed change will help ensure that arrest warrants are not granted when there is no realistic chance of prosecution,” Gould said.