Ya'alon to NZ Arrest Warrants: Take a Hike

That was former IDF chief Moshe "Boogie" Ya'alon's response to the arrest warrants that were issued then overturned. From Jerusalem Post:

Ya'alon was spared from being arrested during his trip after the Auckland District Court issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of war crimes stating a "suspicion of committing a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention 1949," a criminal offense in New Zealand under the Geneva Conventions Act 1958 and International Crimes and International Criminal Court Act 2000. The court issued the warrant after several lawyers contacted the police to urge Ya'alon's arrest.

Lawyers. How surprising.

"I am continuing to hike in New Zealand after a week in which I conducted public relations activities for the Jewish National Fund and for the State of Israel," said Ya'alon.

"I did not flee from anywhere nor do I intend to flee. I was out of reach, hiking in a forest, when I heard of the uproar in Israel," continued the former chief of staff."

Regarding the proposed legal proceedings against him, Ya'alon said, "I am fully aware of the intention to make a claim against me, but thankfully New Zealand is still one of the countries which enforces the law correctly and does not allow people who want to stir up public opinion, to use Western means to attack people like us on democratic missions, as opposed to those on missions of terror."

I assume those same lawyers will be bringing arrests warrants against those radical Islamist terrorists who manage the quinella of human rights violations against moderate Muslims or Arab Christians, as well as war crimes against Israeli civilians.

I was among a small group who recently met with Moshe Ya'alon. A very impressive and principled man, he is pessimistic about both the peace prospects with the Palestinians, and the future of Europe a la Mark Steyn, Oriana Fallaci, Bat Ya'or, Bernard Lewis and Melanie Phillips.

At a push, his suggestion for the West Bank (also known as Judea and Samaria) is for security affairs to be handled by Israel, and civil affairs by the Palestinians at a local level. A 'bottom-up' approach, but probably be a generation before any changes to this arrangement could be possible.

In contrast, he offered no practical solution for Europe to dig itself out of its decline, other than a hopeful 'they will wake up'.

One could argue the same about those Kiwi lawyers.

UPDATE: Israellycool covers the story in more depth here. And goes one better in the pun stakes with the title.