Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters have signed an online petition demanding that Scotland Yard arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes once he steps foot on British soil this coming September. The petition was created through the British parliament website. It mandates that British lawmakers debate a motion if a petition reaches 100,000 online signatures. "Benjamin Netanyahu is to hold talks in London this September," the petition's author, a British national who goes by the name of Damian Moran, wrote. "Under international law he should be arrested for war crimes upon arrival in the UK for the massacre of over 2,000 civilians in 2014." Last year, Israel and Hamas fought a 50-day war during which 2,000 Gazans, many of them civilians, were killed by Israeli bombardment. Since Netanyahu is a sitting prime minister with diplomatic immunity, there is no chance he will be arrested under universal jurisdiction laws. Nonetheless, Israelis have been apprehensive over the prospect that former army officers and defense chiefs could be arrested overseas. Earlier this year, Israeli diplomats scrambled to secure immunity for former IDF chief and defense minister Shaul Mofaz just prior to his trip to London for a defense conference. Israeli television reported that Mofaz was at risk of being detained on possible war crimes charges since Israeli authorities had tried and failed to secure diplomatic immunity for him on his trip. Four years ago, the British government approved a change to the controversial universal jurisdiction law, used by activists to obtain arrest warrants for alleged war crimes aimed at Israeli dignitaries who visit the UK. The law previously allowed private complaints of war crimes to be lodged against military personnel even if they were not British citizens and the alleged crimes were committed elsewhere. High profile targets in recent years have included former foreign minister Tzipi Livni and former defense minister Ehud Barak.
