THE LIVNI DAYLIGHTS

Christmas came early (or Eid came late, or Hannukah arrived bang on time) for activists seeking justice for last year’s massacres in Gaza when an arrest warrant on charges of war crimes was put out for for Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister at the time.

The UK government was quick to act - David Milliband immediately phoned up Livni to apologise that occasionally British courts act independently and do strange things like try to prosecute criminals.

There’s some confusion about what happened next. Media sources in the UK say that Livni cancelled her trip to Britain after she heard about her arrest warrant and that the sources who informed the lawyers they had spotted her in the country were mistaken.

However, Arabic news sources say that she was in the country but had to be whisked away to a secret Mossad safe house to escape arrest.

The Israeli government was furious (always a good sign), growling that the cosy British-Israeli relationship was being put in jeopardy. The Israeli state also blustered that Britain’s role in the peace process would be put at risk. This brings two questions to mind - first, what role in the peace process? And second, what peace process? Do they mean that Tony Blair will have to give up his job as ‘Quartet Envoy?’ And if he did, would anyone (except Blair’s accountant) notice?

Back in the UK, human rights lawyers are concerned that Britain might try and change the law to avoid any future ‘embarrassments’ for their allies. Meanwhile, scores of Israeli army officers and politicians have been warned not to travel to countries with ‘universal jurisdiction’. The warrant against Tzipi Livni, although never served, must have scared the shit out of some of the shadier characters at the Israeli embassy.