Bibi Be Gone: 80K Sign Petition to Arrest Netanyahu in UK

A campaign calling on British authorities to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes upon his arrival in the UK has attracted widespread support with more than 80,000 people signing a petition calling for his arrest.

The petition, posted on the UK Government’s website, calls on Britain to arrest Netanyahu when he arrives in London in September for the “massacre of over 2,000 civilians in 2014.”

The arrest campaign is referring to Israel’s summer offensive in Gaza last year, where more than 2,000 Palestinians were killed during the Israeli Defense Force’s 50-day military offensive against Hamas.

It’s thought that the number of signatures has doubled in the past couple of weeks, while the British parliament will be forced to debate the matter if the petition attracts the support of 100,000 people by February next year.

A Message to Netanyahu

While the petition’s creator Damian Moran noted that he "doesn't expect him [Netanyahu] to get arrested because of the universal jurisdiction laws,” he believes the sheer amount of support for his campaign will send a message to the Israeli leader.

“It is a clear message to him that there's a massive amount of people who don't want him here.”

The British government responded to the petition, backing away from the calls to arrest the Israeli leader.

“Under UK and international law, visiting heads of foreign governments, such as Prime Minister Netanyahu, have immunity from legal process, and cannot be arrested or detained,” a government statement read.

Despite recognizing that the “conflict in Gaza last year took a terrible toll,” the British government statement said it acknowledged “Israel’s right to take proportionate action to defend itself, within the boundaries of international humanitarian law.”

The government added that it condemned Hamas’ “terrorist tactics,” saying that the group engaged in “kidnap and murder, and repeatedly refused to accept ceasefires,” while noting that Israel was a close ally of Britain, with an “excellent bilateral relationship.”

Anti-Israeli Backlash in Britain

Israel has faced widespread international criticism for its actions during last year’s military campaign in Gaza, with accusations and evidence suggesting that Israeli forces indiscriminately fired into residential areas, leading to a severe loss of civilian life.

The military campaign resulted in widespread public criticism of Israel in Britain, with the country’s parliament voting in favor of recognizing the state of Palestine in a historical, but non-binding decision in October last year.

Many lawmakers expressed their disgust with Israel’s actions, including former long-standing MP Sir Bob Russell, who told Sputnik in an interview earlier this year that he believed Netanyahu was a “war criminal.”

"Israel cannot go on behaving in the way it has in the last 20 to 30 years. The current leader of Israel [Benjamin Netanyahu] is a war criminal. Any way you look at it, he is a war criminal."