Tzipi Livni
Tzipi LivniFlash 90

Hatnua party leader MK Tzipi Livni was handed an invitation to report to police for questioning over "war crimes" when she landed in London last week, it has been revealed.

Livni - who co-chairs the Zionist Union faction together with Labor Party and Opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog - has been similarly targeted by anti-Israel organizations in the UK, due to her position as foreign minister during the 2008 Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.

The invitation for questioning was received as Livni visited London in a personal capacity - to participate in a London conference hoster by the left-wing Haaretz newspaper - and not as part of an official Israeli delegation, meaning she was not automatically covered by diplomatic immunity at the time. The opportunity was apparently seized upon by anti-Israel groups to force a diplomatic storm.

However, according to Israel's Channel Two, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit approved Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu request allow Livni to travel regardless, despite the risks, reportedly as a means of pressuring the British government to enact its pledge to alter the law to prevent foreign officials from being targeted by politically-interested groups in this way.