UK Petition Threatens Netanyahu with Arrest

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Nearly 80,000 Brits have signed a petition demanding the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he arrives in London next month for bilateral talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Briton Damian Moran posted the petition on a British government website earlier this month.

"Under international law, he [Netanyahu] should be arrested for war crimes upon arrival in the U.K. for the massacre of over 2,000 civilians in 2014," Moran claims on the post, in reference to Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014.

The action was Israel's response to sustained Palestinian rocket fire and other offensives, including terror tunnels dug under the border with the Gaza Strip.

According to British law, if 100,000 people sign the petition, it qualifies for parliamentary debate.

"Visiting heads of foreign governments, such as Prime Minister Netanyahu, have immunity from legal process and cannot be arrested or detained," the British government responded.

The Israeli embassy in London called the petition a "meaningless publicity stunt," not unlike the attempt to arrest then-Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni after Operation Cast Lead, a similar 22-day conflict in 2008-2009.

Meanwhile, bilateral talks between the two leaders will focus on the pending agreement with Iran, regional issues such as Syria's four-year civil war, the stalemated Israeli-Palestinian talks and stalled reconstruction in Gaza.

From the United Kingdom, Netanyahu will head to New York to address the U.N. General Assembly in mid-September, just about the same time Congress votes to approve or disapprove of the U.S.-led Iranian deal.

President Barack Obama appears confident Congress will approve the agreement or alternately will not be able to override his veto should legislators vote against it.