According to different Israeli media sources Israeli soldiers traveling abroad are now threatened with arrest in different countries for their war crimes in Gaza.
KAN, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that there are now many attempts to prosecute Israeli soldiers abroad showing that about 50 complaints have been filed against reserve soldiers in the Israeli army, and investigations have been opened in 10 countries with the numbers set to increase in the coming days.
Quoting security sources, KAN stated that the countries it described as friendly to Israel do not pose a direct or immediate threat with mass arrest warrants, and no official instructions have been issued to prevent travel to specific countries, despite some of them being considered problematic.
It added cases are dealt with individually, especially those related to soldiers with dual citizenship, such as South Africa, and/or soldiers with intelligence information against them.
A few days ago, the Israeli media reported an Israeli soldier wanted in Brazil managed to leave the country before being arrested. This comes after the Brazilian judicial authorities issued an urgent order for his arrest on the basis of a complaint filed by a human rights organization accusing him of committing crimes in Gaza.
Haaretz reported the Israeli army warned reserve soldiers abroad of the possibility of being arrested for participating in the war on Gaza.
For its part, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar held a meeting of a ministerial team to discuss “ways to protect Israelis and Jews abroad.”
During the meeting, Sa’ar called for immediate and clear measures to deal with these issues, while directing the army to educate soldiers not to publish documentation of their crimes. He also stressed the need to monitor international organizations that work to legally prosecute Israeli soldiers.
For his part, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid described the incident of the soldier’s smuggling from Brazil as a “diplomatic failure” for the government, and criticized its failure to legally protect the soldiers, wondering how the Palestinians could become a more influential force on the international scene compared to Israel.
Human rights reports revealed the collection of information related to crimes committed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza, including the publication of video clips documenting these violations, with the aim of pushing local authorities in various countries to arrest them.
Israel Hayom reported that mothers of Israeli soldiers sent a sharp letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, demanding legal protection for their sons, warning of the consequences of international courts, especially with the decline in the independence of the Israeli judiciary.
Professor of international law William Schabas ruled out the possibility of Israel succeeding in protecting its soldiers involved in war crimes and genocide, pointing to the lack of credibility of the Israeli judicial system.
In the same context, Dr. Muhannad Mustafa explained that international prosecutions constitute an obsession for Israel, due to the repercussions they carry on accountability files and the absence of justice domestically as reported by the Palestine Information Center.
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