“Israeli Officials At Risk for Civil Lawsuits in the US?”

“Almanar

16/12/2009 “Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni is not the only one, or even one of a select few, who face the near-certainty of arrest should they make the mistake of visiting England.” According to former Israeli Foreign Ministry legal adviser Allan Baker, two of every three ministers in the cabinet would also likely be arrested in a British jail if they did the same.

Britain is one of several west European countries that have passed laws granting it international jurisdiction - that is, the right to try anyone suspected of violating various provisions of international law, no matter where the alleged crimes were committed or the citizenship of the suspect.

Meanwhile, four American Jewish groups are urging the US Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision that could lead to Israeli officials being slammed with civil lawsuits in the United States.

Coinciding with a British judge's decision to sign an arrest warrant for Livni for "war crimes" during the Israeli aggression against Gaza, the brief seeks to overturn a Fourth Circuit decision to strip foreign Israeli officials from immunity in American civil lawsuits.

Written by Washington attorney Nathan Lewin on behalf of the Zionist Organization of America, the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, Agudath Israel of America and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the "friend of court" brief warns against a "torrent of unfounded lawsuits against Israeli government officials" in the absence of absolute immunity.

"Public officials should have the same immunity as their governments have under federal law in order to enable them to act in accordance with their best judgment in their roles," Lewin said.

In the US, only prosecutors can pursue criminal charges against an individual, unlike in Britain, where a private party can initiate such proceedings.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday blasted the UK judge's decision to issue an arrest warrant against Livni, who at a Tuesday conference in Tel Aviv called the operation a "necessary option" to defend “Israeli citizens”.

"We will not agree to a situation in which [former prime minister] Ehud Olmert, [Defense Minister] Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni are sitting on the defendants' bench," Netanyahu said.

The American Jewish groups' brief argues that immunity is necessary for “foreign officials” to make decisions without fear of being punished later on. Without legal protection, Israeli officials will not visit the US and American Jews will be deprived of a First Amendment right to hear free speech and receive information.

"Israel's adversaries are ready to pursue all possible means to hinder measures that duly elected Israeli leaders feel are necessary for Israel's self-defense," the brief argues.

The brief cites at least 15 present and former Israeli officials who could face civil or criminal legal actions. "We'd be rather shocked to see that happen in the US, but nonetheless because of a potential concern of a situation arising, that's what motivated us to file this brief with the Supreme Court," said Nathan Diament, director of the OU's Institute for Public Affairs, when asked about the British warrant for Livni's arrest. He said it was “hard to imagine a US prosecutor filing charges against an Israeli official, but an individual filing a civil lawsuit against an Israeli official is possible.”

Earlier Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressed his dismay over a London court's decision to issue an arrest warrant against Livni, but a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry source told Ynet that the British minister has so far faltered on his promise to rectify the legal loophole which allows such action to be taken.

According to the source, Tel Aviv was told that until a new British parliament is elected in May, changing existing legislation is problematic. "We made it clear that the fact that a judge in the most remote court in Britain can just issue an arrest warrant against Israeli officials is utterly unacceptable," said the Israeli source.

Miliband spoke with both Livni and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and said he and British Ministry of Public Security officials were "shocked" to learn of the warrant.

"The procedure by which arrest warrants can be sought and issued without any prior knowledge or advice by a prosecutor is an unusual feature of the system in England and Wales. The Government is looking urgently at ways in which the UK system might be changed in order to avoid this sort of situation arising again," Miliband said.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon told Ynet that unless the UK acts immediately, even if the problem cannot be resolved in parliament as yet, "I'm afraid senior Israeli officials will have no choice but to avoid visiting London, even for the sake of promoting strategic moves for peace." Foreign Ministry sources said that there were no plans to call London Ambassador Ron Prosor back to occupied Jerusalem at this time.