Over 80,000 Brits Sign: Arrest Bibi

Local Editor

A petition calling on the UK government to arrest "Israeli" PM Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes in Gaza when he arrives in London has garnered more than 80,000 signatures. But David Cameron's government says no way: Netanyahu has diplomatic immunity.

The petition, posted on the UK government's website, has already been signed by some 81,000 Brits. Its initiator, Damian Moran, stated that under international law, the "Israeli" prime minister can be detained when he comes to the British capital in September "for the massacre of over 2,000 [Palestinian] civilians" during the 51-day aggression by "Israel" on Gaza last year. The number of signatures has doubled in the last two weeks.

If the petition garners 100,000 signatures by February 7, 2016, the UK parliament is required by law to debate it. However, Moran, the petition's author, said he "doesn't expect him [Netanyahu] to get arrested because of the universal jurisdiction laws."

He added: "It is a clear message to him that there's a massive amount of people who don't want him here."

The UK government was required to provide an official answer to the petition as soon as it gathered 10,000 signatures. It replied: "Under UK and international law, visiting heads of foreign governments, such as Prime Minister Netanyahu, have immunity from legal process, and cannot be arrested or detained."

"We recognize that the conflict in Gaza last year took a terrible toll," the government statement added. "[A]s the Prime Minister said, we were all deeply saddened by the violence and the UK has been at the forefront of international reconstruction efforts."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team