Evelyn Gordon notes that after the initial Belgian court ruling that PM Sharon could not be prosecuted, the upper parliament (with the backing of PM Verhofstadt) passed an amendment that would have explicitly permitted the prosecution. Thus the higher court ruling merely promoted the view of the political echelon, and that view is specifically directed at Israelis: the suits against Arafat, Castro etc. have been delayed because they have not enjoyed similiar enthusiasm from Belgian prosecutors.