Posted on 02/12/2003 8:44:42 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday recalled Israel's ambassador to Belgium, Yehudi Kinar, after the Belgian Supreme Court ruled that Defense Ministry director-general Amos Yaron could be prosecuted for his involvement in the Sabra and Chatila massacres in 1982 in Beirut, when he was commander of the IDF forces in the Lebanese capital at the time.
The court also ruled that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon can be put on trial for his alleged involvement in the affair, but only after he ceases to be prime minister, when he no longer has diplomatic immunity.
In addition to recalling the ambassador, Netanyahu urgently summoned Belgium's ambassador to Israel for a meeting today at which the foreign minister will deliver a vehement Israeli reaction to the court decision.
Government sources said last night it was not yet known how long Israel's ambassador to Belgium would be kept at home, but that there was no doubt that the decision would have a negative influence on Israel-Belgium relations.
In a statement issued last night, Netanyahu said the Belgian court had made "a scandalous decision, which legitimizes terror and harms those who fight it. This turns the tables - when those who fight terror turn into the accused and the terrorists are victorious.
"Belgium is helping to harm not only Israel, but also the entire free world, and Israel will respond with severity to this," the foreign minister continued.
Government sources expressed concern regarding the possibility of future prosecutions against Israelis in Belgium, based on yesterday's court ruling. But they also noted that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat was also in line for prosecution in Belgium, in the wake of complaints filed against him by Israeli terror victims.
Meanwhile, Yaron, who is most directly threatened by the ruling, said: "The court decision is very serious and the way in which the entire affair was handled does not look right to me."
He said that he would be consulting with legal advisors, including the Defense Ministry's legal advisor, Zvia Gross, to study the decision. "I am not worried by the decision. I don't travel to Belgium. The ministry doesn't have any business with Belgium, and I haven't been there since becoming director-general," he added.
Defense Ministry sources voiced outrage and concern about the decision making it possible to prosecute Yaron, who was in command of IDF forces in Beirut at the time of the massacre of some 800 Palestinians by Phalangist troops who were Israeli allies during the war.
The Defense Ministry will not be issuing a formal statement until it has heard directly from the head of international affairs at the State Prosecutor's Office, Irit Kahn, who was in the Belgian court for the verdict yesterday. One worry is that Belgium could use extradition treaties, to which Israel is signed, and issue a pan-European warrant for Yaron's arrest. However, the court decision yesterday only stipulated that a lower instance could begin an investigation of its own into Yaron's involvement. The Belgian government has, meanwhile, been fashioning new legislation that would severely limit the ability of its legal system to prosecute suspected international war criminals with no connection to Belgium.
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