Pro-Palestine activists have requested that an arrest warrant be issued against the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, for alleged war crimes before his arrival in the UK this week.
Herzog is accused of aiding and abetting the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza in the request to the director of public prosecutions filed by the Friends of Al-Aqsa campaign group.
One of the specialist lawyers advising Friends of Al-Aqsa said the case was based around statements made by Herzog after the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, in which the Israeli president said all Palestinians in Gaza were responsible.
Those comments have been highlighted in South Africa’s case at the international court of justice in The Hague accusing Israel of genocide.
“South Africa has filed a whole dossier with the UN security council of evidence of Israeli soldiers and officers using President Herzog’s words, and putting them into practice on the ground in Gaza. They launched indiscriminate attacks impacting civilians and civilian objects in the knowledge that such attacks would cause excessive loss of life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects.”
The lawyer claimed the high civilian death toll, widespread damage to civilian infrastructure and residential buildings were indicative of the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks, which would be a grave breach of the first additional protocol to the Geneva conventions.
As head of state, Herzog would ordinarily be expected to have immunity, but the lawyer suggested there was a precedent since the international criminal court (ICC) had issued arrest warrants against serving heads of government – including President Vladimir Putin of Russia – which must be enforced by signatories to the ICC’s Rome statute.
The Israeli embassy in London has been approached for comment.
In 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and the late Hamas military leader, Mohammed Deif, for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.
Herzog is scheduled to arrive in the UK for a three-day visit to meet goverment ministers, though Labour MPs have urged ministers not to do so.
The visit precedes the UK government’s expected recognition of a Palestinian state, which the prime minister, Keir Starmer, has pledged to do unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire and revives the prospect of a two-state solution.
“A leader of a country that carries out gross human right violations and indiscriminate killing should not be allowed in the UK,” said the Friends of Al-Aqsa’s founder, Ismail Patel.
skip past newsletter promotion
Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
Patel said more than 60,000 people had been killed in Gaza, that Israel was accused of war crimes and that it had starved the population through its blockade on aid.
“Britain has failed to defend Palestinian rights and champion the rule of law. There is now an opportunity to correct the failings and issue an arrest warrant to investigate into Herzog’s incitement to attacks on Gaza,” he said.
The lawyer said the English legal system provided the possibility for private individuals to request the director of public prosecutions to allow a private prosecution and seek an arrest warrant against someone to commence a private prosecution, rather than relying on the Crown Prosecution Service.
In 2016, the former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni was granted special diplomatic immunity after she was summoned for questioning by police over alleged war crimes during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09, during which rights groups say about 1,400 Palestinians were killed in Gaza.
