The chief prosecutor in The Hague on the accusations of sexual harassment and the order against Netanyahu

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Karim Khan, who issued the arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, broke his silence yesterday (Thursday), a year after he went to prison due to suspicions of sexual harassment of a female employee in his office. Khan’s environment informed N12 that he does not intend to give up and that we will hear more from him in the near future.

In an extensive interview that he gave to journalist Mehdi Hassan (ZETEO), he closed accounts with his opponents at the court, revealing the names of those who threatened him, before issuing the warrants against senior Israeli officials, and stated that it is possible that the threats against Netanyahu will be aggravated because the investigation continued even in his absence. He also announced for the first time in public that he was acquitted of the legal proceedings conducted against him. Now he is fighting for his return to the position of chief prosecutor.

Khan said in the interview that he cooperated fully with the investigation procedure conducted against him and that he rejects all the accusations directed against him. For the first time, he claims in his voice that he had no sexual or other relationship with the employee of his office who is at the center of the case, specializing in law from Malaysia.

Khan stated that the panel of three distinguished judges, appointed by the court to hear his case, unanimously acquitted him of all guilt, and found no evidence of inappropriate behavior or abuse.

The prosecutor said that he believes that the assembly of member states of the tribunal will adopt the judges’ decision and return to his position, but according to him due to pressure exerted by several states, all 124 member states will be required to vote whether to accept the judges’ decision or prevent his return. According to Khan, there are political forces that are trying to change the procedure so that the desired result is obtained from their point of view, and he made it clear that he would not agree to that.

Israel was also mentioned quite a bit in Khan’s interview, and it is possible that Jerusalem will not be happy to hear his words. Karim Khan said that the investigation against senior Israeli officials continued even in his absence, additional witness evidence was collected and it is not impossible that the charges against Prime Minister Netanyahu will be aggravated. Khan did not rule out the possibility that the article of committing genocide would also be included if there was evidence of this.

Khan added that he would act exactly as he did against Vladimir Putin. In the case of the Russian president, Khan first requested an international arrest warrant for charges that he said were on the low level of war crimes, only to shock Putin and his entourage with an arrest warrant, perhaps even to deter, and then as the war dragged on, more evidence was collected, and more serious charges were added to the indictment against him. The prosecutor also hinted that he would not hesitate to investigate what is happening in Judea and Samaria.

In addition, the prosecutor rejected Israel’s claims, according to which he was stressed by the sexual harassment investigation in his case, which began at the end of April 2024, and as soon as he was informed about the investigation, he hurried to divert attention from the story and ran to request the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant in mid-May 2024.

Khan said that discussions on the issue began in January with a team of international law experts. In March 2024, he personally informed officials in the US, Great Britain and France of his intention to request arrest warrants against the Israeli officials, long before the sexual harassment scandal that rocked the court exploded.

Khan revealed in his voice for the first time that he received threatening calls that he received following his update. He said that he remembers two conversations in particular. According to Khan David Cameron who served at that time as the British Foreign Minister. He threatened that if Khan went ahead, Britain would freeze funding to the tribunal and consider withdrawal.

According to him, he also received threatening calls from American legislators. He remembers well one conversation with the Republican Senator Lindsey Graham who slammed him that the court is intended for leaders from Africa or thugs like Putin, and not for democratic countries like Israel and the USA.

With President Trump’s return to the White House, his administration imposed crippling sanctions on the prosecutor, his family, other senior officials in the prosecutor’s office and judges at the court.

Earlier this week it was published in the Wall Street Journal about the alleged involvement of the state of Qatar in the case of the arrest warrants against the Israeli officials, when testimonies reached the FBI, from sources privy to the details said that Qatar urged the prosecutor to request the arrest warrants and when they sensed that he hesitated a little they told him “we will take care of you”. This report was denied by the Qataris and Khan’s lawyers. We asked Mehdi Hasan why the issue did not come up and he replied that the interview was recorded before publication.

In the interview, Khan mentioned his visit to Israel in December 2023, two months after the October 7 massacre. He mentioned the sights he was exposed to in the surrounding kibbutzim that he toured, mentioned the Biebs family and also the relationship that was formed with the families of the abductees.

Khan even referred to the exclusive interview he gave during the visit to News 12, in which he said “Follow the instructions of international law now, and don’t complain later if I decide to open an investigation.” He said he hoped it would serve as a warning sign to decision makers.

At the International Criminal Court in The Hague, a fierce battle is currently underway between Karim Khan and his supporters, who demand that he continue his tenure as chief prosecutor, and several countries and the governing body who would prefer to see him retire, which might lead to the cancellation of the warrants and the cancellation of the American sanctions on the senior officials of the court. According to estimates, a decision in our opinion will be made during the coming summer.