International Court of Justice prosecutor who indicted Netanyahu charged with sexual harassment

After months of inaction and whispering rumors of a brewing scandal, an an anonymous account on X called @ICC_Leaks last week some of the allegations began to surface.

Israel’s allies in the US Congress also seized on the potential scandal. Sen. Lindsey Graham is seeking documents on whether allegations of misconduct played a role in Khan’s decision in May to cancel an aide’s planned visit to Israel and to proceed with war crimes charges.

“Another cloud — a moral one — hangs over Prosecutor Khan’s sudden decision to stop cooperating with Israel and seek arrest warrants,” the South Carolina Republican wrote in a letter to the court watchdog.

Khan, 54, who is married with two children, said in a statement that there was “no truth” to the allegations and that in his 30 years of scandal-free investigative work, he had always supported victims of sexual harassment and abuse.

Khan added that he would be willing to cooperate with any investigation if asked, saying it was important that any allegations be “thoroughly heard, considered and given due process.”

Without directly naming any organization, he said that both he and the court had been the target of “a wide range of attacks and threats” in recent months, some of which were also directed at his wife and family. Khan’s office declined to provide details because the incidents are under investigation.

Under Khan’s leadership, the ICC became more assertive in its fight against crimes against humanity, war crimes and related crimes. Along the way, the list of enemies grew.

In September of last year, after the opening of the investigation into Russian atrocities in Ukraine, the court suffered a debilitating cyber attack leaving staff unable to work for weeks. He also hired an intern who was later a criminal The USA accused him of being a Russian spy.

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

London newspaper The Guardian and several Israeli news publications reported this summer that Israel’s intelligence services have allegedly targeted senior ISS officials over the past decade, including surveilling Khan’s predecessor and showing up at her home with envelopes filled with cash to discredit her.

Netanyahu himself called on the world’s democracies a few days before Khan was charged with war crimes: use all the means at their disposal ” to block the court from what he called an “atrocity of historic proportions”.

Israel’s foreign ministry referred AP inquiries about the case to the prime minister’s office, which did not respond. The U.S. State Department declined to comment on the matter, but said in a statement that it “takes any allegations 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 conducted covert activities against the ICC.

Khan, a British international barrister, had a long history of defending some of the world’s most brutal strongmen, including former Liberian president Charles Taylor and the son of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, before being recognized elected in 2021 by secret ballot to become the chief prosecutor.

The Rome Statute that established the court came into force in 2002 with a mandate to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, but only when national courts are unable to launch their own investigations. Neither the United States, nor Israel, nor Russia are among the 124 member states that recognize the court’s jurisdiction, although their nationals can be charged with crimes committed in ICC member states.

Still, Washington welcomed Khan’s election, especially after he began to “deprioritize” an investigation launched by his predecessor into abuses by US troops in Afghanistan.

Khan also broadened the court’s focus by bringing criminal charges against individuals outside of Africa for the first time. He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of kidnapping children in Ukraine and launched an investigation into Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for his repression of 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, experienced in working with the media and has extensive experience in court with evidence to the highest standards.”