Pro-Palestine activists have requested that an arrest warrant be issued against Israeli President Isaac Herzog for alleged war crimes ahead of his arrival in the UK this week. The Friends of Al-Aqsa campaign group filed the request to the director of public prosecutions, accusing Herzog of aiding and abetting the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza.
The case is based on statements made by Herzog after the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, in which he said all Palestinians in Gaza were responsible. These comments have been highlighted in South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide. A lawyer advising Friends of Al-Aqsa said Israeli soldiers used Herzog's words to justify indiscriminate attacks, causing excessive loss of life and damage to civilian objects, which would be a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions.
Herzog, as head of state, would ordinarily have immunity, but the lawyer pointed to a precedent set by the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants against serving heads of government, such as President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which must be enforced by signatories to the ICC's Rome statute.
Herzog is scheduled for a three-day visit to meet government ministers, though Labour MPs have urged ministers not to do so. The visit precedes the UK government's expected recognition of a Palestinian state, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire and revives the two-state solution.
Friends of Al-Aqsa founder Ismail Patel said more than 60,000 people had been killed in Gaza, and Israel was accused of war crimes and starving the population through its blockade. He argued Britain had failed to defend Palestinian rights and should now issue an arrest warrant to investigate Herzog's incitement to attacks. The lawyer noted that English law allows private individuals to request a private prosecution and seek an arrest warrant, rather than relying on the Crown Prosecution Service.
