ISRAEL’S president should be “arrested upon arrival to the UK” for his involvement in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Scottish Greens have said.
Isaac Herzog is understood to be arriving in the UK on Wednesday for a three-day visit, and will meet with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other government ministers.
The call for Herzog’s arrest came after a pro-Palestinian campaign group instructed a legal team to apply for an arrest warrant for the Israeli president.
Herzog is not currently subject to an international arrest warrant. However, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Nethanyahu is, over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, and could face arrest if he travels to the UK.
Following the October 7 attack by Hamas, Herzog said that all Palestinians in Gaza were responsible. His comments were highlighted during South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague.
Herzog’s visit comes as the UK Government is expected to recognise a Palestinian state. Starmer has said he intends to do so unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire and a two-state solution.
On Tuesday, the UK Government ruled that Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza, despite a growing body of international experts who say the opposite.
Amnesty International said that the visit must not provide “diplomatic cover for a state committing genocide”, while the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) condemned the visit being allowed to go ahead.
“We should not be rolling out the red carpet for a man that was photographed proudly writing messages on bombs, or suggesting that newborn babies are terrorists,” Scottish Greens MSP Patrick Harvie (below) said.
“That in itself is a war crime, and any ethical and responsible government would treat it as their duty to arrest him and investigate his role in the assault on Gaza.
“The UK Government has instead restated their genocide denial policy, looking the other way until it is far too late to take action to help.
“Warm words calling for a lasting ceasefire have not been sufficient, when Labour is actively arming and supporting Israeli forces as they inflict atrocities.”
Harvie said Palestinians deserve “our unwavering support” as the death toll continues to rise.
Zack Polanski, newly elected leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, has also called for Herzog to be arrested.
“Welcoming a potential war criminal to the UK is another demonstration of how this Labour government is implicated in the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Polanski said.
He added that it was a “brutal insult” to those mourning the loss of thousands of lives and Palestinians who are “facing ongoing violence and hunger”.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, said that while Herzog’s position is “largely ceremonial” he has used it to “defend collective punishment”, pointing to his comments regarding October 7.
“Those dehumanising words were cited by the International Court of Justice as evidence of the risk of genocide in Gaza,” he said.
“Such language has helped legitimise mass killing of civilians, including children, as well as deliberate starvation and the large-scale destruction of homes, hospitals and schools.”
Deshmukh urged Starmer not to “provide diplomatic cover for a state committing genocide” and pointed to the UK’s obligations under the Genocide Convention.
Starmer has a “moral duty to humanity” to stop arms exports to Israel, support the ICC, enforce ICJ rulings and that sanctions should be imposed on Israeli officials “most implicated in international crimes”, as well as banning the import of goods from illegal settlements.
“This visit is a test of leadership and principle: polite handshakes and warm words will demonstrate neither,” he added.
“The UK will be judged on whether it took strong action against genocide, or helped to whitewash it.”
The PRC said in a statement ahead of Herzog’s visit: “Such a reception provides political and diplomatic cover for documented war crimes and crimes against humanity, while at the same time granting legitimacy to a policy of extermination that has been explicitly warned against by the highest international judicial bodies.”
The group called on the UK Government to immediately cease hosting Israeli officials, and for MPs to “hold the government accountable for this grave breach of Britain’s international obligations”.
“Continuing to host alleged war criminals and to provide Israel with political and military support does not merely render Britain an unfit and partial actor; it makes it a complicit partner in the crime, and gravely undermines its standing on the international stage,” they said.
“Moreover, collusion with Israel at a time when it is brazenly violating the sovereignty of multiple Arab states in the region further encourages aggression and threatens regional peace and stability.”
Herzog's visit will be the first time a senior Israeli leader has been in Britain since former foreign secretary David Lammy secretly met his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar in the spring.
