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Israel Intensifies Pressure on Britain Over Warrants

Will ban ministerial visits if steps are not taken

by
Marc Tracy
December 17, 2009

The Israeli government appears ready to ban government ministers from visiting Britain until it is assured that none of them could face arrest for war-crimes charges, which Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni very well could have had she set foot in the United Kingdom Monday. Britain continues to articulate its commitment to ensuring the safe passage of Israeli eminences: it wants to be a major player in the Middle East peace process, it figures, and it can’t do that very well if Israel takes this step. However, British diplomats also denied a report that the attorney general would be required to approve all similar warrants in the future, and it is not clear, among legal concerns over due process and political concerns over those British voters who saw the Livni warrant as a good thing, just how far the British government would go to keep Israeli ministers coming to London. Well, they’ll always have Paris.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.