Britain said today it would restrict its citizens' right to seek war crimes arrests, after diplomatic protests over a warrant for the arrest of Israeli ex-foreign minister Tzipi Livni for the Gaza offensive.
The arrest warrant was withdrawn after Ms Livni cancelled a visit to London last December, and she has not attempted to visit Britain since.
A court in the capital had issued the Ms Livni arrest warrant at the request of lawyers acting for Palestinians in Gaza, British media reported.
Israel has said the legal jeopardy faced by its politicians and military officers could damage Britain's efforts to play a role in Middle East peacemaking.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the situation as an "absurdity."
British prime minister Gordon Brown said his government remained committed to the prosecution or extradition of war criminals, but that the current system needed to be tightened.
"The only question for me is whether our purpose is best served by a process where an arrest warrant for the gravest crimes can be issued on the slightest of evidence," Mr Brown said in an article published in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"As we have seen, there is now significant danger of such a provision being exploited by politically-motivated organisations or individuals."
Under British law private individuals can start criminal prosecutions, including for international war crimes offences, by applying to a magistrate for a court summons or an arrest warrant.
Magistrates do not need to decide whether there is any realistic chance of a conviction.
Mr Brown said the threat of arrest could harm Britain's international influence if foreign officials refused to visit.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw said the government planned to remove the ability to seek arrest warrants for war crimes from individual citizens and restrict it to state prosecutors.
He said this would bring Britain in line with most other countries, where only prosecutors can seek arrest warrants in such circumstances.
Mr Straw said the move would require a change of law. He said he would ask members of parliament's Justice Select Committee to consider the plans and conclude their consultation by April 6th.
International human rights bodies, including a commission set up by the United Nations, have said Israeli political and military officials should answer allegations of war crimes over the three-week offensive launched in December 2008.
More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed, while the toll on the Israel side was 13. Israel said it acted according to high military and moral standards during the war.
Reuters