Keir Starmer helped Tzipi Livni walk free despite war crime charges
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Starmer formerly served as the Crown Prosecution Service's Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and denied the request to arrest Tzipi Livni on grounds of awarding her a "special mission" status during her visit.
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Britain's Labour Party leader Keir Starmer delivers his keynote speech at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, England, on October 10, 2023. (AP)
Labour chief Keir Starmer denied requests from a human rights organization in 2011 to issue an arrest warrant for former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni while she visited London for suspected war crimes, Declassified UK reported.
Starmer formerly served as the Crown Prosecution Service's Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and denied the request on grounds of awarding Livni a "special mission" status during her visit.
Declassified has requested any correspondence with and from Starmer's office about the issue, which may indicate what circumstances and negotiations led to Livni fleeing without punishment.
However, the CPS has censored numerous critical communications, stating that disclosing such material would jeopardize the proper administration of public affairs.
John Mcevoy wrote that given the Labour Party's continued backing for "Israel's" horrific attack on Gaza, Starmer's participation in the Livni case deserves more scrutiny.
Who is Tzipi Livni?
Livni served as the Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister from 2006 to 2009, in addition to being a member of the occupation's war cabinet during "Operation Cast Lead", i.e. the Battle of al-Furqan (2008–2009) when "Israel" killed over 1,400 Palestinians, including 333 children.
These atrocities included "the direct targeting and arbitrary killing of Palestinian civilians," and there was also a "deliberate and systematic policy… to target industrial sites and water installations."
According to the UN report, Livni stated that "Israel" "responds by going wild," calling it a "good thing" and further expressing she was a lawyer who was "against law- international law in particular."
In December 2009, Westminster Magistrates' Court issued an arrest warrant for Livni for Israeli war crimes.
At the time, then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband both called Livni to apologize, and Brown promised to make modifications to "universal jurisdiction legislation" in England and Wales, which allows a person committing severe crimes abroad to be prosecuted in another nation, allowing Israeli officials to visit the UK without any fear.
Preventing the arrest of war criminals
McEvoy notes that in June 2011, Starmer met with Israeli state attorney Moshe Lador in London, and it is unknown if they talked about the proposed change to universal jurisdiction law, which was adopted three months later by the coalition government.
The new legislation needed the DPP's permission before such arrest warrants could be issued, as well as a higher evidence bar.
Daniel Machover and Raji Sourani, who were both involved in Livni’s case, expressed that such changes were made to "prevent the arrest of suspected war criminals from ‘friendly’ states."
Then Foreign Secretary William Hague expressed that Britain could not be in a "position where Israeli politicians feel they cannot visit this country," essentially proving the law was altered for Israeli officials.
According to reports, "the Jewish Leadership Council, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and parliamentary Friends of Israel groups" all contributed to the bill's passing in parliament.
Lord Palmer, a Liberal Democrat "Friends of Israel" supporter, also contributed to the bill's passage by suspending his other obligations and casting the deciding vote in the upper house.
Livni meets with Cameron in 2011
On October 6, 2011, Livni paid a visit to Britain, and, according to CPS emails obtained by Declassified, her agenda included meeting with then-Prime Minister David Cameron and Hague regarding the new law.
Two days before her visit, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and legal firm Hickman&Rose petitioned Starmer to order Livni's arrest on behalf of a civilian Palestinian victim of Israeli assaults.
The application was backed by "extensive evidence indicating Livni's individual criminal responsibility" for war crimes perpetrated in Gaza, and it was consistent with the new law.
Starmer pondered on the evidence long enough for the Foreign Office to retrospectively assign "special mission" status to Livni's visit, granting her temporary diplomatic immunity.
The precise reason why the CPS was unable to form a "concluded view" on the quality of the evidence against Livni before the Foreign Office's intervention is unknown.
Mcevoy speculates that it is probable that the Attorney General's office, which confers with ministers before determining whether issuing such arrest warrants is in the national interest, advised Starmer not to pursue the matter.
When asked by MPs if the Attorney General may decide that a case is "a little embarrassing" and hence advise that an arrest warrant be denied, Starmer said, "That is a hypothetical, and I do not think I can answer."
Despite the ongoing massacre in Gaza, the UK government has continued to give diplomatic immunity to Israeli officials.
Read more: Pro-'Israel' bias rampant in UK media: Declassified
On March 6, the Foreign Office issued a "special mission" certificate to Israeli war minister Benny Gantz, who was traveling to Britain to meet with UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
Cameron pointed out the UK government's repeated requests to "Israel", urging the expansion of permitted humanitarian assistance and the restoration of electricity and water supply to both north and south Gaza Strip. Similar requests were made by the United States and France, but they have gone unanswered by Israeli authorities, shedding light on the fragility of Western diplomatic influence on the Israeli occupation.
