A New Ministerial Committee on the International and Diplomatic Aspects of the State of Israel's War on Terrorism

A new ministerial committee on the international and diplomatic aspects of the State of Israel's war on terrorism was created in a Governmental Meeting held on May 10, 2005.[1] The Minister of Foreign Affairs was appointed to chair the committee.

The committee is authorized to:

1. Deal with the international and diplomatic aspects regarding the exposure of the State of Israel and its citizens to international claims related to its counter-terrorism practices, including private claims.
   
   
2. Discuss the various possibilities of promoting understanding and agreement with other countries in order to prevent the abuse of universal jurisdiction.
   
   

The permanent members of the committee are: Avigdor Liberman, Minister of Foreign Affairs who will serve as the chairman of the committee; Ya'akov Neeman, Minister of Justice; Silvan Shalom, Vice Prime Minister, Minister for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee, and Minister for Regional Cooperation; Ehud Barak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense; Dan Meridor, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Intelligence Services and the Atomic Energy Commission; Isaac Herzog, Minister of Welfare and Social Services; Yaakov Margi, Minister of Religious Services; Yuli Edelstein, Minister of Information and Diaspora Affairs; and Minister Yosi Peled.

The committee may also consult on a regular basis with the Attorney General, the Military Advocate General, the Legal Adviser of the Ministry of Defense, the Head of the National Security Center and the Director of the Policy Planning Department at the Prime Minister's Office, as well as with experts from the fields of international law, policy making and international media, when necessary.

The ministerial committee was created in order to coordinate and promote the Israeli Government's response to new legal proceedings in foreign or international tribunals against Israeli officials, soldiers and other citizens. Until now, such proceedings have been closely related to Israel's counter-terrorism effort.

The most recent example of an international claim is the ongoing procedure under the Spanish universal jurisdiction law, which is reviewing the targeted killing of Salah Shehadeh (the commander of the Hamas military wing).[2] There were also some unsuccessful attempts to initiate criminal proceedings against Israeli officials in British and New Zealand courts on the basis of universal jurisdiction laws in the past.

The establishment of the committee indicates the degree of seriousness and apprehension in which Israel views such international proceedings. The structure and composition of the committee exposes one clear purpose behind its establishment; to assure that international claims pursued against Israel and Israeli officials be addressed not only through legal channels, but also through diplomacy, the media, strategic planning, and intelligence and security coordination.

It is worthwhile nothing that the development of stronger internal compliance mechanisms that may prevent further violations of international law was not among the goals set by the committee.

[1] www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Secretarial/Cabinet/2009/05/govmes100509.htm

[2] Read more about the Spanish procedure in Issue no. 3 of the Terrorism and Democracy Newsletter. An update on this procedure is also available in Issue No. 5.