Israel has reacted angrily to an arrest warrant issued, and later withdrawn, by a British court against Tzipi Livni, Israel's former foreign minister, over her role during Israel's war on Gaza.
Speaking on Israeli army radio on Tuesday, Israel's ambassador to the UK urged Britain to change the law, which has allowed groups to pursue charges against non-citizens for alleged crimes committed outside the UK.
"The current situation has become intolerable, it is time that it change," Ron Prosor said.
"I am convinced that the British government will understand that it is time to react and not content itself with declarations."
Livni, who heads the opposition Kadima party, had been expected to travel to London but cancelled the visit due to what her office said was a scheduling conflict.
But a statement from the Israeli foreign ministry later indicated that a British court had issued a warrant for her arrest.
The UK's Guardian newspaper also said that it had established a warrant had been issued by Westminster magistrates' court for Livni's arrest.
Strategic partners
Britain's foreign office has yet to provide any details of the warrant but has said it is looking into the incident.
"The UK is determined to do all it can to promote peace in the Middle East and to be a strategic partner of Israel," it said in a statement.
"To do this, Israel's leaders need to be able to come to the UK for talks with the British government. We are looking urgently at the implications of this case."
Bill Bowring, a professor of law at the University of London, said the threat of prosecution is making international travel increasingly difficult for Israeli officials.
"This has happened before. It's under quite old legislation, under the fourth Geneva Convention of 1949," he told Al Jazeera.
"Basically what it says is that if a person anywhere in the world commits grave breaches against civilians then that person should be arrested and prosecuted wherever they turn up in the world."
Arrest calls
Pro-Palestinian activists have several times petitioned British courts to issue warrants against Israeli officials.
In September, activists tried to have Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, arrested over his role in the Gaza war.
A court denied the request on the grounds of diplomatic immunity.
Israeli land, air and naval forces began bombarding the Gaza Strip last December, saying that it wanted to stop rocket attacks by Palestinian fighters.
A UN-sponsored report, known as the Goldstone report, has called on both Israel and the Palestinians to investigate accusations of human-rights violations committed during the conflict.
Most of the criticism in the Goldstone report was directed towards Israel. It concluded that Israel had used disproportionate force and had deliberately targeted Gaza civilians, using them as human shields, while destroying civilian infrastructure.
More 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the offensive, according to estimates by human rights groups.
Thirteen Israelis, including 10 soldiers, died over the same time period, Israel said.
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