Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu introduces his UK counterpart David Cameron in the Knesset, 12 March 2014. More than 100,000 UK residents are calling for Netanyahu’s arrest during a planned visit to London this month. 10 Downing Street

The UK parliament may debate whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested for war crimes.

This is because more than 100,000 UK citizens and residents have signed an official petition calling for the Israeli leader to be arrested when he visits London.

As of early Sunday, there were more than 101,000 signatures on the petition at the parliament’s website.

Under official procedure, a petition that gains 10,000 signatures receives a government response.

As The Electronic Intifada reported, the UK government’s answer last month contained a number of false and contradictory statements, effectively justifying Israeli war crimes.

Several Israeli officials have narrowly escaped arrest in the UK in recent years, often with official complicity.

According to the rules, “Petitions which reach 100,000 signatures are almost always debated” in the House of Commons.

But there is no guarantee this will happen as the petitions committee in the parliament can choose not to have a debate “if the issue has already been debated recently or there’s a debate scheduled for the near future.”

There are currently four other petitions awaiting debates, including one with more than 415,000 signatures calling on the UK to offer asylum and support to more refugees.

Since Netanyahu’s official visit to the UK is scheduled for this month, it is unlikely any debate would take place before he arrives in London.

But the outpouring of support for bringing Netanyahu to justice will clearly be an embarrassment to him and his host, UK Prime Minister David Cameron.