One of the main reasons to support a boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel is that the Jewish state, through its constantly illegal actions, cannot be seen globally as a “normal” state (a point made yet again by Sydney University’s Jake Lynch in his weekly column). Occupying Palestine must be a punishable offence.
This kind of news is therefore an encouraging sign that some are willing to take a stand and make life uncomfortable for the Israeli elite:
Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon recently canceled a planned trip to Britain for fear of being arrested there.
Ya’alon was invited to London to attend a fund-raising dinner for Benji’s Home, a group home for soldiers with no family in Israel. The project is the initiative of the parents of Maj. Benji Hillman, who was killed in the Second Lebanon War.
Ya’alon was asked to attend the dinner by the British branch of the Jewish National Fund, which is helping the Hillmans raise money for the project, and said he would if the Foreign Ministry’s legal department okayed it.
As chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces in 2002-5, Ya’alon is one of several current and former senior officers whom pro-Palestinian groups have sought to put on trial over the assassination of senior Hamas terrorist Salah Shehadeh in July 2002. The attack also killed 14 civilians.
When Ya’alon consulted the Foreign Ministry’s legal team, they warned that the groups might ask a British court to order his arrest should he visit Britain. They also opined that despite being a minister, he would not enjoy diplomatic immunity, and therefore, the court might accede.