Cambridge Forecast Group Blog

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Dear Friend,

Please see below a translated report about legal developments in Spain, in the case of the 1 ton bomb dropped on a neighbourhood of Gaza in July 2002 (”The Shehade Case“). The report was published last week by Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonot. It contains some factual inaccuracies, and not all the names of the suspects involved in the case are mentioned, but the main point should be clear: the age of immunity granted to alleged perpetrators of war crimes is coming to an end.  Based on the information we have, we are certain that this course of action will be continued, in Spain as well as in pther countries.

In an attached file, you will also find a press release about a Dutch court order sought for the investigation of torture by Ami Ayalon, former director of the Israeli GSS (Shaba”k), and currently a government minister.

Best Wishes

Yesh Gvul

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Yediot Ahronot

03.10.2008

Israel approached Spain: Don’t Arrest Fuad (Benjamin Ben-Eliezer) and Dichter

A Spanish organization requested the warrant of arrest warrants against the Israelis who were involved in the Shechade assassination ● The state is conducting secret contacts in an attempt to solve the complication

By Itamar Eichner and Tovah Tzimuki

Israel and Spain are conducting secret talks in order to settle the diplomatic complication that has arisen from the issuing of international arrest warrants against seven Israelis who were involved in the assassination of the senior Hamas figure Salah Shechade.

During the assassination operation, which was executed in the Gaza Strip six years ago, 15 Palestinians, including 11 children, were killed in addition to Shechade. Additional dozens of human beings were injured. Three months ago a Spanish human rights organisation demanded from a court in Madrid to issue arrest warrant against the Israelis who were involved in the decision to take the action: Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the former Defense Minister Benjamin (Fuad) Ben-Eliezer, the former head of the GSS Avi Dichter, the former Chief-of-Staff  Moshe Ya’alon, the former Air Force Commander Dan Halutz, the former Chief of Operations Giora Eiland and the former Head of the Southern Command Doron Almog. The affair was first reported on in “Yediot Ahronot”.

It has become known to “Yediot Ahronot” that the Spanish authorities recently delivered a secret missive to the Israeli government, which posed a number of questions relating to the affair. Amongst other things Israel was requested to announce what actions have been taken against each of the named people, if they are still serving in official positions and enjoy immunity and if any means were taken to prevent the killing of innocent people in assassination actions.  Israel attributes great importance to the missive and estimate that the answers it provides will influence how the Spaniards will deal with the suit. Israel expects that Spain will intercept the suit, just as Britain did regarding similar suits against senior IDF officers.

When the suit, which includes a request to issue international arrest warrants in Europe against the named people, was reported on, the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem order those people not to go to Spain, for fear of arrest. Spain belongs to the group of states which are members of the ICC in The Hague and has adopted into its legal codex the law which allows suits against war crimes. According to the constitution of the court in The Hague which was established at the beginning of the century, every member state has the authority to exercise universal jurisdiction regarding the suspicion that war crimes have been committed, even if the suit has no connection to that state. Israeli control of the (Occupied Palestinian) territories is defined by this court as a “war crime”. In the past few years state authorities have advised Dichter, Halutz, Eiland and Almog not to enter various European countries, where suits have been filed against them for actions attributed to the (Israeli) security forces in the (Occupied Palestinian) territories.

A number of years ago Israel smuggled former Chief-of-Staff Shaul Mofaz from Britain, since during one of his visits there a suit and a request for an arrest warrant was filed against him. Because of a similar suit, General Doron Almog was forbidden from disembarking from the El Al plane which brought him to London, after it became known that police officers were waiting for him with an arrest warrant in Heathrow Airport. Almog remained on the plane for a number of hours before returning to Israel.

In the meantime there is a news blackout regarding the contacts with Spain, so that the problem may be solved by diplomatic means. Amongst those involved in the contacts are the GSS, the IDF, the Ministry of Defense, The Ministry of Justice, the Israeli Embassy in Madrid, the Prime Minister’s Office and the attorneys of the defendants.

The central argument that Israel will put forward is that the affair has already been dealt with in the Israeli legal institutions, including the Supreme Court. Israel will also argue that a commission has been established with the purpose of examining the preemptive pinpoint assassinations, in order to minimize the damage to innocent civilians.

After the suit was filed in Spain Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni approached the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos and requested from him to examine how to solve the legal complication that had arisen. Livni said to Moratinos that it “is forbidden for IDF reserve officers will be harmed as a result of political and anti-Israeli lawsuits. I request from you to help solve this problem.” State officials say that if the Spanish court issues arrest warrants against the Israelis, this act will greatly damage the relations between the two states.