Herzog Complaint in UK: Police fail to act and CPS Issues Weak Rejection on Purported Evidential Grounds

25 December 2023- Isaac Herzog signs bomb shells destined to be fired on people and homes in Gaza

Press Release

On 10 September 2025 the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), represented by their UK solicitors, the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) and Stop the War Coalition, both represented by the Public Interest Law Centre, filed a criminal complaint to the relevant UK authorities seeking the arrest of Israeli President Isaac Herzog for grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. (HRF, ELSC and Stop the War Coalition had already taken the preliminary step of writing to the Police, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Attorney General’s Office on 9 September 2025).

Together, they submitted a Case Summary providing clear and detailed evidence of Herzog’s personal role (i.e. as an accessory to war crimes) in Israel’s policy of starvation, the systematic destruction of Gaza, and other acts that may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, on 10 September 2025. This evidence includes Herzog’s own public statements erasing civilian protection, his denial of famine in Gaza in the face of overwhelming UN documentation, and his visits to military sites — including Nahal Oz and Gaza — where his presence coincided with or directly preceded destructive military campaigns such as Operation Oz and Nir.
Despite this compelling material, the Metropolitan Police have failed to arrest Herzog or to indicate any reasons for failing to act, and on the evening of 10 September 2025 a CPS lawyer writing on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) rejected the criminal complaint and the separate application for permission to seek a judicial arrest warrant on the grounds of “insufficient admissible evidence”.
HRF, ELSC and Stop the War Coalition, consider this conclusion to be deeply flawed and legally unsustainable, since much of the evidence is already admissible, including Herzog’s own unequivocal statements. Additionally, the CPS should already – as part of its due diligence duty under the Geneva Conventions – have collected and analysed material regarding war crimes in Gaza, given that there is a substantial body of open-source evidence in the form of video evidence, first-hand accounts and reports in the public domain. These include the extensive reports of international bodies that document, in forensic detail, patterns of conduct amounting to grave breaches of international law in Gaza and across Palestine, and the evidence already filed with the War Crimes Team on 7 April 2025 by PILC and the Palestine Centre for Human Rights.  Any further evidence could easily be secured with minimal investigative effort. The CPS also failed to follow its own published guidance, which requires written directions to be given on how evidence could be made admissible when consent is refused on evidential grounds. No such guidance was provided in this case.
As regards the Police inaction, HRF, ELSC and Stop the War Coalition renew their request to the SO15 (the Metropolitan Police Service’s specialist War Crimes Unit), to arrest Mr Herzog, regardless of any claim to immunity he may make and for the reasons provided to them in the last three days.
The United Kingdom has a binding obligation under Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention to “seek out and prosecute” those reasonably suspected of grave breaches when present in its territory. To refuse action against Herzog while citing dubious evidential grounds, without offering the required guidance, is not only a legal error by the CPS but is both shocking and dangerous, sending a message of impunity at a time when accountability is urgently needed.

HRF, ELSC and Stop the War Coalition have written again to the Police for an arrest decision and to the CPS requesting that it urgently reconsider its position and provide the guidance required by its own policies. They reaffirm their commitment to pursuing accountability for international crimes and will continue to work with legal partners and the Metropolitan Police War Crimes Team to ensure that the rule of law is upheld.
Dyab Abou Jahjah, Chairman of the Hind Rajab Foundation: “History will not absolve the British authorities for failing to arrest Isaac Herzog. In doing so, the police have abandoned the Palestinian victims of genocide, organised starvation, and destruction in Gaza, and have placed themselves on the side of impunity rather than justice.”

Lindsey German the Convenor of the Stop the War Coalition, “It is quite astonishing that Herzog has been welcomed at the highest level of government in Downing Street and that he has not been arrested for war crimes. Millions of people in Britain are horrified at the genocidal actions of the Israeli government. We demand that the police and government act in accordance with international law. We also question delays over this while arrests of protesters have become a regular occurrence.”

Anna Ost, Senior Legal Officer, European Legal Support Centre “ This is yet another example of UK institutions not only providing cover for, but actively enabling genocide. By refusing to act, the CPS is reinforcing a Western project of destruction in Gaza led by Israel, Britain, the US and Germany. At every stage, the UK has squandered historic opportunities to uphold its moral and legal obligations while Gaza is being erased. The CPS must not let this become another shameful failure in the face of overwhelming evidence.”
Paul Heron, solicitor at the Public Interest Law Centre said “The Government deliberately puts a hurdle in place insisting on the consent of the DPP before those suspected of war crimes can be arrested, it is now clear that this is being exploited by some to ensure that those demanding justice are silenced and those accused of aiding and abetting war crimes are not held to account.”
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Note to editors:
•            The United Kingdom has a binding obligation under Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention to “seek out and prosecute” those reasonably suspected of grave breaches when present in its territory. To refuse action against Herzog while citing dubious evidential grounds, without offering the required guidance, is not only a legal error by the CPS but is both shocking and dangerous, sending a message of impunity at a time when accountability is urgently needed.
•                HRF, ELSC and Stop the War Coalition have written again to the Police for an arrest decision and to the CPS requesting that it urgently reconsider its position and provide the guidance required by its own policies. They reaffirm their commitment to pursuing accountability for international crimes and will continue to work with legal partners and the Metropolitan Police War Crimes Team to ensure that the rule of law is upheld.