CAIRO, February 27, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Fearing possible arrest and persecution on charges of war crimes against the Palestinians, a senior Israeli commander has cancelled a trip to Britain to join the Royal College of Defense Studies, a case seen by an Israeli rights group as indication of a growing international isolation of the Israeli army.

Brigadier General Aviv Kochavi, the commander of the Israeli army unit along the Gaza border, was instructed by the military establishment to scrap his summer plans, Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported on Monday, February 27.

"At this point, to send him to London, or any other officer who fought in the territories, is a danger," a security source told the Yediot Ahronot daily.

In March 2002, Israel launched an onslaught against all Palestinian cities in the West Bank except for Al-Quds (occupied east Jerusalem) and Al-Khalil (Hebron).

The operation, which officially ended in May although crippling curfews continued long after that, claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinians, mostly women and children.

The city of Jenin took the brunt of the Israeli aggressions, with more than 54 civilian deaths.

Kochavi was a senior commander in the paratroopers during the offensive.

According to the Israeli media, the decision to cancel his London trip was taken in light of an arrest warrant issued six months ago against former Israeli commander of the Gaza Strip Doron Almog.

Last year, Almog narrowly escaped capture after a London magistrate had issued a warrant for arresting him over his role in a 2002 bombing raid that killed 15 Palestinians, many of them children.

Israel's ambassador in London Tzvi Hefetz spoke with Almog during the flight, advised him not to get off the plane. 

Britain is one of several European countries which allow investigations of war crimes involving foreign nationals if the suspect's own country is unwilling or unable to act.

The suspect can be arrested upon his or her arrival in the UK.

The Israeli left-wing group "Yesh Gvul," which was a party to the legal complaint filed against Almog in Britain, warned that Israeli officers and soldiers would be wanted worldwide due to human rights violations in the territories.

"The time has come for the Supreme Court in Israel and the military and civilian judicial systems to start treating suspicions of war crimes seriously," said the organization.

"Otherwise, the only place Israeli officers and soldiers will be able to travel to will be the Sinai Peninsula."

Comatose Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon avoided a visit to Belgium in 2003 where he could have been arrested under the then "universal competence law" for his role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre.

The 1993 law, which was repealed by Belgium later following extensive Israeli lobbying, enabled Belgian courts to examine cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide regardless of where the outrages were perpetrated.

There has been mounting dissent within Israeli officers about the army’s policies in the occupied Palestinian territories.

A number of senior officers of elite army units hit out at the military's "immoral" policies in the occupied territories in letters published by Israeli newspapers.