Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asked British Foreign Minister Margaret Becket on Wednesday to enact a law preventing the arrest of Israel Defense Forces officers in British territory, during their meeting in Jerusalem.

According to a political source in Jerusalem, British authorities promised Israel roughly a year and a half ago that the country would enact a law similar to a Belgian law, passed in the wake of the Belgian warrant issued for the arrest of then-prime minister Ariel Sharon.

The Belgian law transferred the authority to issue arrest warrants for foreign citizens on accusations of war crimes from the courts to the government.

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Beckett promised the prime minister that she would take care of the issue. The spokeswoman for the British Embassy in Tel Aviv confirmed Thursday that the matter had been raised, but would not comment further, saying that the meeting had been a private one.

Beckett also praised Israel's restraint in the face of continuing Qassam rocket attacks and suicide bombings emanating from the Gaza Strip, saying it strengthens Israel's standing in Europe and helps the United Kingdom block anti-Israel initiatives proposed by other European Union member states.

During her two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Beckett told Army Radio that even with Fatah as a partner, a new Palestinian government would have to subscribe to the demands of the so-called Quartet of international peacemakers - the United States, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union.

Becket said that should the PA unity government fail to do so, London would continue to shun it. "We have said consistently from the beginning that we believe that any government should be based on the Quartet principles," she said. "If nothing new changes from the position there's been hitherto, I'm afraid [our] position will stay the same."

However, she expressed optimism that the progress could be made in the peace process, saying her conversations with Olmert and senior Palestinian officials "confirmed a feeling I had that we could potentially be at a turning point."

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