LAWFARE AGAINST ISRAEL

Last month, Israeli and Spanish officials engaged in a flurry of secret talks to avoid a diplomatic crisis because a Palestinian nongovernmental organization (NGO) filed suit in Madrid, seeking arrest warrants against seven former Israeli officers allegedly involved in the 2002 targeted killing of Hamas leader Salah Shehadah in Gaza.

This lawsuit is just the latest front in the anti-Israel "lawfare" strategy -- the frivolous exploitation of Western courts to harass Israeli officials.The detractors of the Jewish state are increasingly using civil lawsuits and criminal investigations around the world to tie Israel's hands against Palestinian terror by accusing Jerusalem of "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity." Moreover, the "lawfare" against Israel raises troubling questions;

• Why do NGOs supposedly promoting "universal" human rights only target Israel and fail to hold responsible Palestinian or Hezbollah terrorists for hiding among civilians -- turning their neighborhoods into legitimate military targets?
• Why do these NGOs fail to seek "justice" for Israeli terror victims?
• Why do the EU and European governments fund these NGOs under ironically named programs like the "Partnership for Peace"?

Europe's taxpayers may want to ask their leaders why they are footing the bill for these frivolous lawsuits, suggests Herzberg.

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