Fearing arrest, IDF officer cancels studies in U.K.

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent (2/26/2006)

The commander of the Israel Defense Forces division on the Gaza border, Brigadier General Aviv Kochavi, was forced to cancel his planned trip to the United Kingdom after the Military Advocacy instructed that he refrain from commencing studies at the Royal College of Defense Studies this summer, fearing that he would be arrested on charges of war crimes.

During the implementation of the disengagement from Gaza and in the months preceding it, Kochavi served as the commander of IDF forces in the Strip. He was the last soldier to leave the Gaza Strip, and he closed the gate behind him. During Operation Defensive Shield, in 2002, he was deployed as a senior commander in the paratroopers. During the operation, some 52 Palestinians and 23 IDF soldiers were killed in Jenin.

Consultations on Kochavi were held recently in the State Prosecution's international department, as well as in the Military Advocacy.

Military Advocate General Brigadier-General Avichai Mendelblit instructed Kochavi to abandon plans to study at the RCDS, in light of an arrest warrant issued some six months ago against former GOC Southern Command Doron Almog.

Last year, Almog had to cancel a visit to the U.K. and return to Israel without disembarking the plane, after learning that a criminal complaint had been filed for his alleged involvement in war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Because he had not passed border control, he was not considered to have entered Great Britain and therefore could not be handed an arrest warrant.

British law allows citizens to file private criminal complaints against military personnel because of war crimes, even if they are citizens of foreign countries, and even if the alleged crimes were not committed on British soil. Under these circumstances, the suspect can be arrested upon his or her arrival in the U.K.

The request for Almog's arrest was issued by Judge Timothy Workman in London, at the request of the firm of Hickman and Rose, which specializes in human rights law. Almog was apparently suspected by the London authorities of gravely violating the Geneva Convention, a criminal violation according to British law.

Senior military officials seemed concerned by recent developments surrounding Kochavi, saying similar scenarios are likely in additional countries in western Europe, including France and Spain. According to the officials, Mendelblit may recommend that senior officers who served during the intifada not visit these countries.