Campaign group seeks arrest warrant for Israeli president ahead of UK visit

LONDON

A UK-based Palestine solidarity group said Tuesday that it has requested that an arrest warrant be issued for Israeli President Isaac Herzog ahead of his visit this week to London.

In a statement, Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA) said it has now applied for the urgent consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Attorney General to institute criminal proceedings against Herzog "on charges of encouraging indiscriminate attacks by the Israeli military on civilians and civilian objects in Gaza."

"At the same time, FOA has also lodged an application for an arrest warrant against Herzog, pending DPP consent," said the statement.

It came after it was announced that Herzog would arrive in the UK as part of a three-day visit to meet with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, UK lawmakers, public representatives and media figures.

The FOA said the application and charges sought to be laid against Herzog relate to two statements he made on Oct. 12 and Oct. 15, 2023, parts of which have since been repeated by the senior Israeli military command conducting a campaign of indiscriminate attacks against civilians.

"The entire (Palestinian) nation out there is responsible. It is not true, this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved," the statement said, citing Herzog's controversial remarks, which was also submitted to the International Court of Justice by South Africa as part of its genocide case against Israel.

FOA chair Ismail Patel said British politicians have failed to defend the Palestinians and champion the rule of law.

"There is now an opportunity for the courts to intervene where the British politicians failed," he said in the statement, adding that it is time "to end impunity and uphold international law."

Israel has killed more than 64,600 Palestinians in a brutal offensive in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and pushed the territory’s population into famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.