Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism – Reuters reported, a Dutch appeals court on Tuesday ruled that Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz was immune from civil prosecution in the Netherlands in a case brought over the deaths of six Palestinians in an Israeli air strike.
The court upheld a lower court’s finding of January 2020 that Gantz, as a high-ranking Israeli official carrying out government policy, could not be held liable in a Dutch civil case.
The plaintiff, Ismail Ziada – a Dutch national of Palestinian origin – said he lost his mother, three of his brothers, his sister-in-law and his nephew in the attack, which took place in Gaza in 2014 when Gantz was Israeli armed forces’ commander-in-chief.
In the suit, Ziada sought unspecified damages against Gantz – a career soldier turned politician – under Dutch universal jurisdiction rules.
The appeals court said the case concerned officials who carried out the policies of the Israeli state.
That meant “a judgment on their actions will necessarily include a judgment on the actions of the state of Israel,” over which a Dutch court had no jurisdiction, a summary of the judges’ decision read out in court said.
Ziada’s lawyer, Liesbeth Zegveld, said her client had yet to decide whether to appeal, but suggested prospects of overturning the ruling appeared slim.
“Chances that the Dutch Supreme Court will hold the Israeli military to account are small,” she told Reuters by text message.
