Almog worried again

Former Israeli general Doron Almog is having another worry about being arrested in the UK in spite of the UK government jumping through hoops to protect Israeli war crimes suspects. The case of Doron Almog has a long and murky history so who better to report on this than the Jewish Chronicle?

Seven years after almost being arrested at Heathrow, former Israeli general Doron Almog has cancelled his participation in a London fundraiser, following concerns regarding Britain’s universal jurisdiction law.

Major General (res.) Doron Almog was commander of the IDF’s Southern Command from 2000 to 2003. In September 2005, he travelled to London for a fundraising event for Aleh, an Israeli charity that supports homes for severely disabled children and young people.

When he landed, he was warned by the Israeli embassy that an arrest warrant had been issued for him by a magistrates’ court, over the suspicion of alleged war crimes committed under his command in the Gaza Strip. He remained on the plane and returned to Israel.

Mr Almog was the first of a number of senior Israeli officers and officials, including former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, prevented from visiting Britain, due to the fears that pro-Palestinian activists would obtain arrest warrants against them.

Last September, after repeated promises by successive British governments, the universal jurisdiction law was changed, so that an arrest warrant could only be issued via the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

While Israel praised the change, subsequent analysis by its legal experts raised concerns that the DPP, a civil servant, could still issue an arrest warrant at the request of pro-Palestinian activists.

Aleh UK was due to hold a fundraising dinner on June 28, in London. Mr Almog, who has been one of Aleh’s most active spokespeople over many years and one of the founders of a rehabilitative village for severely disabled young adults in the south of Israel, was to be the guest of the honour at the event. The village was named Nahalat Eran, after Mr Almog’s son Eran, who died in 2007 at the age of 23.

Last month, following advice he received from the Israeli government, he decided to pull out and the event has been postponed.

This is good news for opponents of the State of Israel and the occupation but there is still an issue around the fact that the UK has been so willing to change its law, indeed to duck out of commitments to international law, for the sake of war criminals.