AN arrest warrant is being sought for the Israeli president during his visit to the UK this week.
Isaac Herzog is expected to arrive in London on Wednesday, where he is reportedly set to meet with Labour ministers and senior political figures.
The visit comes amid Israel's genocide in Gaza, which has so far killed more than 64,500 people – with at least 35 people in Gaza, including seven aid seekers, killed by Israeli forces since dawn.
It also comes just weeks before the UK is set to formally recognise the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly.
Pro-Palestine campaign group Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA) has now instructed a legal team to apply for an arrest warrant to be issued for Herzog, the Middle East Eye reports.
It is understood the warrant relates to "charges of aiding, abetting or procuring direct and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian objects".
FOA chair Ismail Patel said: "Britain has failed to defend and champion the rule of law. There is now an opportunity to correct the failings and issue an arrest warrant to investigate Herzog’s incitement to attacks on Gaza.
"We have submitted an application to compel UK law enforcement to arrest Isaac Herzog upon entry into the United Kingdom. Every official, no matter how senior, must be held accountable for attacks on civilians.
"There can be no immunity for such grave crimes."
Patel went on to say that "any British MP meeting [Herzog] will be endorsing Israel's gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity".
"Keir Starmer inviting Herzog shows not only complicity but direct support for the genocide in Gaza," he added.
Herzog has previously asserted that all Palestinians in Gaza were “unequivocally” responsible for the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
"The entire [Palestinian] nation out there that is responsible. It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved,” said Herzog in October 2023 in comments that were later cited by the International Court of Justice in its genocide ruling.
Although from a different political party to Netanyahu, he has broadly backed Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
Downing Street has previously indicated that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces arrest if he travels to the UK, given the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
However, Herzog is not subject to an international arrest warrant.
The request for a warrant comes after the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) wrote to Scotland Yard's war crimes unit on Monday, "demanding that the Israeli president is investigated upon his arrival in the UK, on suspicion of bearing criminal liability for alleged war crimes".
According to the ICJP, even if Herzog is granted diplomatic immunity, Scotland Yard could still interview and investigate him "in compliance with the UK's international and domestic obligations".
Herzog's visit will be the first time a senior Israeli leader has been in Britain since David Lammy, who was Foreign Secretary at the time, secretly met his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar in the spring.
Legal groups applied for an arrest warrant for Sa'ar at the time, although this was blocked by the attorney general.
Reports at the time suggested Lammy had personally reassured Sa'ar that the arrest warrant would not be approved – something Prime Minister Keir Starmer went on to deny.
At the time of writing, there has been no official confirmation that Starmer will be meeting directly with Herzog during his visit.
