Barak visited Austria despite fear of arrest

Foreign Ministry receives information that pro-Palestinian organization will seek arrest warrant against defense minister, but he leaves for Vienna – and returns safely

Roni Sofer

Published: 12.18.09, 21:11 / Israel News

Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited Austria this week and returned safely, despite being warned by the Foreign Ministry that an arrest warrant may be issued against him in Vienna on suspicion of committing war crimes.

The defense minister traveled to the Austrian capital on Monday for a series of meetings with the chancellor, president, foreign minister and defense minister. He signed a memorandum of understanding for security cooperation.

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According to the minister's office, on the eve of his trip he was warned by the Foreign Ministry that an arrest warrant may be issued against him following an appeal filed by pro-Palestinian organizations.

The warning was based on reports in Palestinian websites. An inquiry conducted by Israeli Ambassador to Vienna Aviv Shir-On did not reveal a thing.

Foreign Ministry officials evaluated the situation and determined that Austrian judges cannot issue arrest warrants in accordance with universal law, which allows lawsuits over alleged war crimes, as Austria has not signed the 1969 Vienna Convention, which defines international legal proceedings.

Therefore, Barak decided to go on the trip as planned. He left Israel for a day and was not involved in any diplomatic incident.

Foreign Ministry officials said, however, that the matter still requires an investigation. The officials estimated that an appeal for an arrest warrant may have been filed, but that it was not accepted because Austria had not signed the Vienna Convention.

Earlier this week, a British court issued an arrest warrant against Opposition Chairwoman and former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni for allegedly committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead. The warrant was canceled when the court learned that Livni had called off her visit to London.

A special team appointed to handle the threats on Israeli officials is working to collect information and deal with similar incidents which may emerge at any moment in all countries which accept lawsuits based on universal law.

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