Israel’s Diaspora Minister, Amichai Chikli, was set to deliver his speech at the European Parliament on Tuesday, marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Chikli said on Sunday he cancelled his trip to Brussels “in light of concrete warnings and in accordance with the guidance of security officials.”
“I regretted receiving instructions from security officials this evening to cancel my participation... Unfortunately, the capital of Europe has become an unsafe place for Jews and Israelis,” he said.
Belgian officials said that Chikli was not on an official visit and would not enjoy diplomatic immunity, raising concern that pro-Palestinian Belgian rights groups would seek an arrest warrant against him.
On November 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against Israeli officials involved in perpetrating war crimes against Palestinian civilians.
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The arrest warrants were issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and a top Hamas leader on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It was for the first time in history that an arrest warrant was issued against any Israeli official indicted by an international criminal court for the ongoing war on Gaza.
In a decision, the ICC charged Netanyahu, Gallant, and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif over Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and Israel’s subsequent genocidal war in Gaza. Israel claimed to have killed Deif in July, however. It is unclear whether he is still alive.
Since then, Israeli officials have found themselves in a bit of trouble as the arrest warrants compel member states to arrest an indicted person. Israeli officials slammed the move, calling it "anti-Semitic.”
Since the invasion of Gaza on October 8, 2024, as a response to the Hamas attack that killed some 1139 people inside Israel. Israeli forces have killed 47,185 people. with an additional 10,000 dead buried under the rubble in Gaza during the 15-month-long war.
International rights organisations have criticised Israeli actions in Gaza, which have killed over 13000 children and left several thousand with life-altering injuries.
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