Friends of Al-Aqsa seek arrest warrant for Israeli president Isaac Herzog

Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA) have applied for an arrest warrant against Israel’s president Isaac Herzog. The latter is due to visit the UK on the 10th and 11th of September. However, MPs, Palestine activists, and many more have strongly objected to the visit. FOA’s intervention calls for the urgent consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Attorney General to institute criminal proceedings against Herzog. The request is based on charges of encouraging indiscriminate attacks by the Israeli military on civilians and civilian objects in Gaza.

Ismail Patel, chair of FOA, explained:

We have submitted an application to seek that UK law enforcement arrest Isaac Herzog whilst he is in the United Kingdom. Every official, no matter how senior, must be held accountable for attacks on civilians. As the International Criminal Court has made clear on numerous occasions, there can be no immunity or impunity for such grave crimes.

Additionally, FOA has also lodged an application for an arrest warrant against Herzog, pending consent from the DPP. In UK law, crimes under the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 require DPP and Attorney General consent before a private prosecution can be instituted.

Friends of Al-Aqsa condemn Herzog

The application and charges relate to two statements Herzog made in the immediate aftermath of the attacks on 7 October 2023. Herzog said:

The entire [Palestinian] nation out there is responsible. It is not true, this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved.

These same statements have since been repeated by senior Israeli military commanders. Those commanders are the ones leading a campaign of indiscriminate attacks against civilians in Gaza. The resultant destruction of more than 90% of Gaza strongly infers indiscriminate attacks against civilians and the civilian populations by the Israeli military. In other words, a form of collective punishment.

In January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concluded that Israel’s actions in the Gaza strip had given rise to a serious risk of genocide being committed. Among the evidence submitted to the ICJ by South Africa were Herzog’s above statement. More recently, the International Association of Genocide Scholars declared that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and (then) Defence Minster Gallant on the basis that there are reasonable grounds that each bear criminal responsibility for a series of war crimes and crimes against humanity. This charge from the ICC included war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population.

Patel also said:

 British politicians have failed to defend the Palestinians and champion the rule of law. There is now an opportunity for the Courts to intervene where the British politicians failed.

It’s time to end impunity and uphold international law.

Featured image via the Canary