British police attempted to question former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni on suspicion of war crimes, it has emerged.

Police issued a summons on Thursday ahead of Ms Livni’s arrival in London for a conference.

According to Haaretz, the summons was cancelled after diplomatic contacts between Israel and Britain.

Police wanted to question the Zionist Union Knesset member, over involvement in alleged war crimes during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2008. At the time she was foreign minister, vice prime minister and a member of the Israel's security cabinet.

Haaretz reports that, in a breach of diplomatic procedure, Scotland Yard’s War Crimes unit contacted Ms Livni to confirm that she would be visiting London. The summons was then emailed to her.

Ms Livni informed the UK Israeli embassy and the Office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The summons, which made it clear that the questioning was "on a voluntary basis", was cancelled after the intervention of the Israeli diplomats who were concerned that Ms Livni would be arrested when she arrived in the UK.

It was agreed with the British Foreign Office that her visit to London, for the Haaretz Israel Conference, would be given "special diplomatic assignment" status, granting her immunity from arrest.

Referring to the summons at the conference, Ms Livni said she was “proud of the decisions I made as a cabinet minister in the Israeli government".

The attempt by police to question her showed that "the British legal system is being abused," she said.

In a joint statement the Jewish Leadership Council, Board of Deputies, Zionist Federation and We Believe in Israel said: “Because of our successful campaign for changes to the universal jurisdiction laws in 2011, Ms Livni was not subject to arrest. However, the current situation remains unsatisfactory. It is unacceptable that democratically elected members of the Israeli Knesset should face such uncertainty when visiting the UK.

"The Government has always recognised that Israel has a responsibility to protect its citizens against terror and rocket attacks. The police should focus their attentions on the Hamas terrorists who carry out these war crimes, not on the democratic leaders defending their country."