A British petition demanding the arrest of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival in the UK next month, went viral in a few days.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that the country signed a major agreement with an energy consortium, which includes American firm Noble Energy Inc. and local company Delek Group, for natural gas production development in the Mediterranean Sea.
According to the Jerusalem Post, some former Israeli officials have been at risk of arrest in Britain as pro-Palestinian activists in the UK “take advantage of legal loopholes“. Given the large scale of support and attention, the United Kingdom government may be forced to publicly respond in the near future.
Israeli newspaper Ynet said that over 30,000 people signed the petition, and the numbers are dramatically rising. Should the petition reach 100,000 signatures, the petition will have to be considered for discussion in parliament.
The government will be forced to respond since the petition has received over 10,000 signatures.
As of 1300 GMT on 12 August, the petition had attracted more than 40,000 signatures.
“Any person can initiate a petition on the website of the British parliament”, it added.
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Last summer, Israel launched a bloody war against Gaza that killed almost 2,300 Palestinians, the majority of which were civilians, 500 of them children. These war crimes and others, like Israel’s recent attack on the Freedom Flotilla, which sought to bring medical aid and solar panels to the Port of Gaza, have given rise to increased calls for Israel to be tried before the worldwide Criminal Court. Former Israeli minister of justice Tzipi Livni evaded several attempts to arrest her while visiting the UK.
