Israel’s Public Security Minister Avi Dichter cancelled a trip to Britain last December fearing arrest for war crimes. Tony Blair was "shocked" to learn of this yesterday, describing the situation as "utter nonsense". According to Ha’aretz, "Blair told Dichter that he was under the impression that the matter had been settled while he was still prime minister."
Dichter’s concerns are justified. In July 2002, as head of the Shin Bet, he oversaw the assassination of Hamas’ military leader, Salah Shehadeh, in which an Israeli F-16 jet dropped a one-tonne bomb on a densely populated neighbourhood in Gaza City, killing Shehadeh and 14 innocent civilians, and injuring over 100 bystanders .
Blair is plainly mortified at the idea that participation in the unlawful killing of 14 civilians should restrict one’s choice of future holiday destinations. Which is understandable, really, since if that were so his lucrative tour of the international lecturing circuit would come to an end pretty sharpish.
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