LONDON — A senior Israeli soldier facing a private prosecution in the UK for alleged war crimes avoided arrest at Heathrow after being tipped off, it was reported yesterday.

Maj. Gen. Doron Almog stayed on the plane and flew back to Israel after being alerted to the arrest plan, the BBC said.

Leaked documents apparently show police did not board the plane to detain him at the airport because they were worried about the dangers of an armed confrontation.

Gen. Almog has been accused by Palestinian campaigners of ordering the destruction of more than 50 homes in the Gaza Strip in 2002.

A leaked police log obtained by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) showed police feared a clash with armed El Al air marshals or the officer’s security guards, the BBC said.

Lawyers acting for the campaigners, who say the homes were destroyed illegally, lobbied the Metropolitan Police to get involved prior to Maj. Gen. Almog’s trip to the UK.

He planned to make social and charitable visits to Jewish communities in Manchester and Solihull, in the West Midlands.

The Metropolitan Police initially refused to act due to pressures on counterterrorism teams after the London bombings, but a judge eventually issued an arrest warrant for a private prosecution.

Officers reportedly planned to detain the officer at immigration control, then take him to a police station.

But news of the planned arrest was leaked to the Israeli Embassy and he was warned of the plan.

Detective Superintendent John MacBrayne, in charge of the operation, was unable to confirm whether his team had a right to board after El Al refused them entry.

In his log, he reportedly wrote: “Another consideration (was) that El Al flights carried armed air marshals, which raised issues around public safety. There was also no intelligence as to whether Almog would have been traveling with personal security as befitted his status, armed or otherwise.”

Lawyers acting for the Palestinian campaigners demanded an inquiry after the failed arrest.

A spokeswoman for the IPCC said: “The IPCC has concluded its investigation into a complaint arising from the failure by police to execute an arrest warrant for war crimes against Almog on Sept. 11, 2005. The IPCC found no evidence of any police officers or member of police staff improperly disclosing information with regard to executing the warrant.

“The IPCC was further satisfied that there was no breach of the Police Code of Conduct by officers failing to enter the aircraft to execute the warrant.”

She added that the investigation finished last summer, and the IPCC did not know who had leaked the details of the planned arrest.

Lawyers Hickman and Rose criticized the police’s handling of the situation both before and during the failed arrest.

The firm, which represent Maj. Gen. Almog’s alleged victims, said in a statement: “Victims of war crimes allegedly committed by Almog have been very badly let down by the failure of the Metropolitan Police to keep Almog from finding out about the arrest warrant before it was executed, and to arrest Almog when they had the opportunity to board the plane at Heathrow airport.

“These are serious failures which raise concerns about the effectiveness of the police in cases where international criminal suspects come into the country.

“They also reveal an extraordinary assumption that armed Israelis might engage British police on British soil as they try to make an arrest under a lawful warrant issued by a British judge.”

According to aviation security expert Chris Yates, police are entitled to board planes, wherever they come from. “Any aircraft of any country is not sovereign soil,” he told BBC radio. “If the police feel that a crime has been committed or that they have to execute a warrant for someone’s arrest, then they’re quite within their rights to board that aircraft with or without the permission of the pilot.”

When the general returned to Israel, the incident was described as an “outrage” by Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. Then British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw subsequently apologized, the BBC reported.