A judge has found a legal loophole that would allow Spanish authorities to apprehend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and six other Israeli government officials for questioning in response to a lawsuit filed by activists over the Israeli Navy’s raid of their Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010.
Advertisement
A Spanish court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several other officials for their role in the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla raid incident.
However Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nachshon told the Jerusalem Post that diplomatic efforts were being made to quash the court’s decision. “We hope that the case will be closed soon, as it should have been a long time ago”.
Israeli Defence forces carried out a deadly attack on the Freedom Flotilla aid ship Mavi Marmara, which was attempting to bring supplies to Gaza, in contravention of an Israeli-imposed blockade.
Many within the global community have accused Israel of being in breach of worldwide law over the IDF’s actions during the incident, with the recent Spanish court decision meaning that Netanyahu, along with six other Israeli officials, could face charges if the case is reopened. The six officials named are Moshe Ya’alon, Dan Meridor, Eli Yishai, Avigdor Lieberman, Ehud Barak, and Benny Begin.
Nine activists were killed during the raid that took place in global waters a few 150km from Gaza, one more died of wounds later that month.
A United Nations panel that reviewed the case later denounced the Israeli attack on the vessel as “excessive and unreasonable”. Davids laid her first complaint with the South African Police Services and South Africa’s National Prosecutions Authority (NPA) in January 2011. “No arrest warrants have been issued for any of the people mentioned‚” he said.
Advertisement
A court in Istanbul, Turkey issued arrest warrants against the commanders in 2014. “An arrest alert notice in this regard was circulated to the South African Border Control system on 3 September 2015”. She says she was kidnapped and assaulted before being imprisoned in Israel after the IDF stormed the aid ship.
