Netanyahu removed from Spanish list of suspected war criminals

Spanish judges responsible for international affairs have canceled the registration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a war crimes suspect, which they said was a jurisdictional error.

The El Diario daily reported on the recent ruling by two judges of Spain’s National Court on Netanyahu and six other Israelis, whom a judge from the same court last month flagged to police as persons of interest in connection with a complaint over the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident.

In November, Justice José de la Mata ordered police to add to its registry of people of interest Netanyahu and six other Israeli politicians: Ehud Barak, Avigdor Lieberman, Moshe Ya’alon, Eli Yishai, Benny Begin and Eliezer Marom.

Police were to inform de la Mata of the arrival in Spanish jurisdiction of any of the seven flagged. De la Mata would then have had the authority to detain, arrest or charge them.

But in an announcement to police, a two-man National Court panel whose authority supersedes de la Mata’s ordered the Israelis be de-registered.

— JTA