The International Court of Justice prosecutor who indicted Netanyahu is accused of sexual misconduct

After months of inactivity and whispered rumors of a brewing scandal, an anonymous account on X called @ICC_Leaks Last week, some of the allegations began to come to light.

Israel’s allies in the US Congress have also taken advantage of this so-called scandal. Senator Lindsey Graham is seeking data on whether the misconduct allegations played a role in that Khan’s decision in May to cancel an aide’s planned visit to Israel and move forward with war crimes charges.

“Another cloud – a moral one – hangs over Prosecutor Khan’s abrupt decision to abandon involvement with Israel and seek arrest warrants,” the South Carolina Republican wrote in a letter to the court’s supervisory authority.

Khan, who is 54, married and has two children, said in a statement that there was “no truth” to the allegations and that in three decades of scandal-free investigations he has always supported victims of sexual harassment and abuse.

Khan added that he would be willing to cooperate with any investigation if asked, saying it is essential that all allegations are “thoroughly listened to, investigated and subject to due process.”

Without directly naming any entity, he noted that both he and the court have been the target of “a wide range of attacks and threats” in recent months, some of which have also targeted his wife and family. Khan’s office declined to provide details as the incidents are under investigation.

Under Khan, the ICC has become more assertive in the fight against crimes against humanity, war crimes and related atrocities. Along the way it has added a growing list of enemies.

Last September, after the opening of an investigation into Russian atrocities in Ukraine, the court faced a debilitating cyber attack causing staff to be unable to work for weeks. It also hired an intern who later became a criminal In the US he was accused of being a Russian spy.

Israel has also been waging its own influence campaign since the ICC recognized Palestine as a member and opened a preliminary investigation in 2015 into what the Court called “the situation in the State of Palestine.”

The London newspaper The Guardian and several Israeli news media reported this summer that Israeli intelligence services have allegedly targeted high-ranking ICC personnel over the past decade, including by placing Khan’s predecessor under surveillance and showing up at her home with envelopes stuffed with cash to discredit her.

Netanyahu himself, in the days leading up to Khan’s announcement of the war crimes charges, called on the world’s democracies to “ to use all the resources at their disposal ‘ to deter the court from what he called an ‘outrage of historic proportions’.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry referred AP’s questions about the case to the prime minister’s office, which did not respond. The U.S. State Department declined to discuss the case but said in a statement that it “takes any allegation of sexual harassment seriously, and we expect the court to do the same.”

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and several lawmakers in the Netherlands have called for an investigation into whether the Israeli embassy carried out covert activities against the ICC.

Khan, a British international lawyer, had a long history of defending some of the world’s most ruthless strongmen – including former Liberian President Charles Taylor and the son of the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. elected in 2021 by secret ballot become chief prosecutor.

The Rome Statute, which established the court, came into effect in 2002, with a mandate to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide – but only if domestic courts fail to initiate their own investigations. Neither the US, Israel nor Russia are among the 124 member states that recognize the court’s authority, although their citizens can be charged for crimes committed in ICC member countries.

Still, Washington welcomed Khan’s election, especially after he prioritized an investigation opened by his predecessor into abuses by US military personnel in Afghanistan.

Khan also broadened the court’s focus, bringing criminal charges against individuals outside Africa for the first time. He has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of kidnapping children in Ukraine has opened an investigation into Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for his crackdown on protesters.

“He is by far the most professional lawyer the court has had in its short history,” said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch. “He is articulate, sophisticated with the media and has extensive experience in the courtroom working with the highest standards of evidence.”