Jerusalem, January 16: Former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni may face an arrest warrant in South Africa over her involvement in the December 2008-January 2009 war against Gaza.
The Media Review Network (MRN) and the Palestine Solidarity Alliance are seeking an arrest warrant in South Africa ahead of Livni’s visit to the country next week, Ha’aretz reported on Saturday.
The South African groups want Livni arrested for her role in the 22-day war, which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Shortly after the three-week war ended, reports surfaced incriminating Israeli forces in numerous cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“We have now been informed that Livni has been invited to this country and have therefore instructed our legal team to take all necessary measures to secure an arrest warrant,” MRN chief Iqbal Jassat said.
“Our decision is based on the fact that South Africa is a signatory to the Rome Statute, which obligates all member states to honor their responsibility in the prosecution of war criminals.”
Livni has been invited to South Africa by the local Jewish community to give a number of speeches and hold meetings in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
South Africa is the birthplace of international prosecutor Richard Goldstone, who headed the fact-finding commission mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate the Gaza war.
Goldstone’s 575-page report predominantly highlighted atrocities Israel committed against civilians in the Gaza Strip.
The Goldstone report accused the Israeli army of purposefully targeting places where it was known that civilians were staying, using Gazans as human shields, and opening fire on civilians on the run, who at times were waving a white flag.
In December 2009, Livni was forced to cancel plans to take part in a Jewish conference in London after a British court issued a warrant for her arrest.
———-Agencies