WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–Four American Jewish groups are urging the US Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision that could lead to Israeli officials being suject to civil lawsuits in the United States, the ‘Jerusalem Post’ reports.
Coinciding with a British judge’s decision to sign an arrest warrant for Israeli opposition leader and former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, for alleged war crimes during the Gaza war earlier this year, the brief seeks to overturn a Fourth Circuit decision to strip foreign government officials from immunity in American civil lawsuits.
Written by Washington attorney Nathan Lewin on behalf of the Zionist Organization of America, the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, Agudath Israel of America and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the “friend of court” brief warns against a “torrent of unfounded lawsuits against Israeli government officials” in the absence of absolute immunity.
“Public officials should have the same immunity as their governments have under federal law in order to enable them to act in accordance with their best judgment in their roles,” Lewin told the ‘Jerusalem Post’. In the US, only prosecutors can pursue criminal charges against an individual, unlike in Britain, where a private party can initiate such proceedings.