BRITISH CONCERN OVER ARREST WARRANTS AGAINST ISRAELI POLITCIANS IS NOT ALTRUISTIC

Melanie Phillips writes about the recent subject of Israeli politicians who've been threatened with arrest warrants in the UK, and tells why they're really concerned about the one issued against Tzipi Livni:

In all that time, the government has sat on its hands. Only now that Tzipi Livni has had to cancel her trip to London following an attempt to arrest her over her part in Operation Cast Lead has the British government said it will change the law, probably by making the Attorney-General the gatekeeper for any such arrest attempts.

Why is it only now that the balloon has gone up? One reason is that this is the first time the Israeli government has responded with unbridled fury at Britain. But also, for British diplomats, Livni is ‘one of us’. That is because, since she is one of the most appeasement-minded politicians Israel has ever produced, it is considered an affront to try to arrest her, of all people, for her part in warfare.

‘Livni supports a two-state solution. This attempt to secure her arrest has really set alarm bells ringing,’ a horrified senior Foreign Office source reportedly told the Guardian. The unpleasant implication is that the Foreign Office cares far less about attempts to arrest Israeli politicians with more hawkish views.

This telling remark shows how the Foreign Office circles the wagons when one of its ideological soul-mates is under attack — and is wholly unable to see how the amoral and unprincipled view of the world it believes it shares with Livni may actually be contributing to the problem.

While the double-standard the British could have even against Israeli leftists is still quite possible, this nevertheless makes a lot of sense that their reaction is not for altruistic reasons. No wonder the idea of making the UK attorney general "gatekeeper" for these arrest warrants actually sounds fishy.

Speaking of Livni, she has just turned down an offer to join the government, which I assume Benjamin Netanyahu made because of the dangers the country is now facing like Iran's nuclear threat, and that's why unity is now needed. It doesn't really matter, because she is so stupid, there's little chance she could make any positive impact.