Israel Weighing Limiting Travel Of Senior Officials To Europe

Thursday October 15, 2009 06:39 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Washington Times reported Wednesday that Israel is seriously weighing the possibility of limiting its officials travel to Europe fearing that they could be arrested following the Goldstone report accusing Israel of committing war crimes during its Gaza war earlier this year.

Israeli army spokesperson, Avital Leibovitz, told the Times that Israeli officials are still travelling to Europe although they were advised not to do so, and that the army is holding talks with the Foreign Ministry and other legal authorities in the country regarding the possibility of taking measures that restricts the travel of senior officials to Europe.

Retired Israeli general, Moshe Yaalon, who currently works at the Strategic Affairs Ministry, had to cancel a trip to London.

The Times said that Israel does not only fear that its officials might be arrested in Europe, but also fears that the ultimate goal of normalization with the Arab world could be sabotaged.

It added that the war on Gaza caused harm to Israel’s relations with a number of Arab countries who have peace deals with it.

Israel now fears that its relations with European countries would be harmed due to possible arrest warrants against its officials.

The Israeli government is holding talks with Spain, Norway, Britain and other EU countries in a bid to bar international courts from ‘intervening in the issue”.

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