Geva Rapp

Colonel Geva Rapp (Hebrew: גבע ראפ) was Deputy Commander of the Israeli ground forces in the Gaza conflict. In February 2009 he had to return hurriedly to Israel, as he feared arrest on war crimes charges while in the United Kingdom.

Before leaving Britain, Rapp addressed students at the Hasmonean and Jewish Free (JFS) high schools in London. He also spoke at events organized by the Jewish Agency. 

He was forced to cancel speeches in 20 UK towns and cities, including Birmingham. The Israeli Information Centre took the decision after secret details about his presence leaked out.

He was to have spoken to closed communities on "Gaza – What was and What Was Not". These were for closed communities only: the publicity added: “This invitation is for the Jewish community and known supporters of Israel only. Due to security concerns, please do not put anything connected with this on Facebook, do not forward this email invitation."

In Birmingham four city councillors: Salma Yaqoob, James Hutchings, Tariq Khan and Tahir Ali, described the visit as “offensive” and said Col Rapp should be charged with war crimes. They said “We utterly condemn the decision to invite Col Rapp to Birmingham as offensive and provocative. In view of the massacre of innocent Palestinians in Gaza, including over 400 children, we feel this person should be charged with war crimes instead of being encouraged to travel freely in the UK.” Col Rapp was due to speak in Birmingham during February 2009.

The event was cancelled and the decision was made for Rapp to return to Israel out of fear of a universal jurisdiction arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.

British law allows private criminal complaints of war crimes to be lodged against military personnel, even if they are not British citizens and the alleged crimes were committed elsewhere. Israel is putting pressure on the British government to change the law.