Israeli Minister Cancels Visit to Brussels for Fear of Arrest

The minister’s office and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment on the matter. Netanyahu’s office had issued a statement on Monday referring to “concrete threats” that prompted the security services to instruct the minister to cancel his visit to the European Parliament.

The channel cited security sources within Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet, who pointed out that, “There was no actual threat or concrete danger to Minister Chikli.” It said that Belgian sources informed Israel that Chikli would not have diplomatic immunity because he was not invited by Brussels as part of an official visit.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Chikli said that he “regretted receiving instructions from security officials: to cancel his participation in the holocaust memorial event. “Unfortunately, the capital of Europe has become an unsafe place for Jews and Israelis.”

This, say observers, is a distortion of reality. Following the Israeli genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, a number of Israeli officials, soldiers and citizens are being prosecuted and have been subjected to incidents in European and foreign countries, as part of the efforts of human rights associations and organisations to hold those responsible for committing war crimes accountable under international law.