US Senator Lindsey Graham and Benjamin Netanyahu conspired to use sexual misconduct allegations against the International Criminal Court's (ICC) chief prosecutor to try and delay the court's arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, it has emerged.

The revelation raises further questions about an intensifying intimidation campaign, documented by Middle East Eye last year, which targeted Karim Khan and the ICC over his office's efforts to bring Gaza war crimes prosecutions against Israeli ministers.

The conversation was reported this week by the New York Times and was in recordings taken by British filmmaker Alex Holder, who followed Graham around for three years for a documentary on his relationship with US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu.

The phone call took place on 29 October 2024, just weeks before ICC judges announced they were issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant.

other discussions
 

US Senator Lindsey Graham and Benjamin Netanyahu conspired to use sexual misconduct allegations against the International Criminal Court's (ICC) chief prosecutor to try and delay the court's arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, it has emerged.

The revelation raises further questions about an intensifying intimidation campaign, documented by Middle East Eye last year, which targeted Karim Khan and the ICC over his office's efforts to bring Gaza war crimes prosecutions against Israeli ministers.

The conversation was reported this week by the New York Times and was in recordings taken by British filmmaker Alex Holder, who followed Graham around for three years for a documentary on his relationship with US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu.

The phone call took place on 29 October 2024, just weeks before ICC judges announced they were issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant.

 

US Senator Lindsey Graham and Benjamin Netanyahu conspired to use sexual misconduct allegations against the International Criminal Court's (ICC) chief prosecutor to try and delay the court's arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, it has emerged.

The revelation raises further questions about an intensifying intimidation campaign, documented by Middle East Eye last year, which targeted Karim Khan and the ICC over his office's efforts to bring Gaza war crimes prosecutions against Israeli ministers.

The conversation was reported this week by the New York Times and was in recordings taken by British filmmaker Alex Holder, who followed Graham around for three years for a documentary on his relationship with US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu.

The phone call took place on 29 October 2024, just weeks before ICC judges announced they were issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant.

 

According to material reviewed by MEE, Graham told Khan that if he proceeded with the warrants "you may as well shoot the hostages yourself" and "we will sanction you".

He added that the ICC was "made for Africa and thugs like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, not democracies like Israel".

...

Francesca Albanese, the UN's special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, wrote last Saturday on X that "Khan's removal lines up neatly with the fight to neutralise Netanyahu's arrest warrant. Coincidence is a luxury intl law can no longer afford".

Welcoming the decision, Netanyahu posted that he has spoken to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about giving the ICC the coup de grace.

[in act of blatant disinformation spreading]

"He once again reaffirmed America’s determination to act forcefully against this institution - an institution that undermines justice, attacks democratic and sovereign nations, and seeks to subordinate their security to the decisions of unaccountable and corrupt officials in The Hague," Netanyahu wrote.

 

According to material reviewed by MEE, Graham told Khan that if he proceeded with the warrants "you may as well shoot the hostages yourself" and "we will sanction you".

He added that the ICC was "made for Africa and thugs like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, not democracies like Israel".

...

Francesca Albanese, the UN's special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, wrote last Saturday on X that "Khan's removal lines up neatly with the fight to neutralise Netanyahu's arrest warrant. Coincidence is a luxury intl law can no longer afford".

Welcoming the decision, Netanyahu posted that he has spoken to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about giving the ICC the coup de grace.

[in act of blatant disinformation spreading]

"He once again reaffirmed America’s determination to act forcefully against this institution - an institution that undermines justice, attacks democratic and sovereign nations, and seeks to subordinate their security to the decisions of unaccountable and corrupt officials in The Hague," Netanyahu wrote.