London (QNN)- The British government threatened to defund the International Criminal Court and quit the Rome Statute if it moved ahead with an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu. ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan revealed that in a new submission defending his decision to pursue charges against Israel’s prime minister, reported The Guardian.
Khan said the threat came during a call with a British official on 23 April 2024. He did not name the official, but reports suggest it may have been the then-foreign secretary, David Cameron. According to Khan, the official argued that warrants for Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant would be “disproportionate.”
Khan also said a US official warned him in April 2024 that issuing the warrants would lead to “disastrous consequences.” He said the US pushed him to delay. Khan refused because he saw no sign that the Israeli government planned to cooperate with the court or change its conduct in Gaza.
In another call on 1 May, Khan said US Senator Lindsey Graham warned that issuing the warrants would signal to Hamas that it “may as well shoot Israeli hostages.”
Khan also described a wave of personal pressure during the same period. He said he first learned on 2 May of sexual misconduct allegations against him. On 6 May, he was told that someone had filed a complaint with the ICC’s Internal Oversight Mechanism without the alleged victim’s consent. The complainant did not wish to pursue the case, and the matter was dropped. Khan said the allegations resurfaced only when an anonymous X account revived them in October.
Khan’s submission stresses that he acted neutrally and did not seek any personal gain. He said the plan to issue the warrants came before the allegations and the political pressure. He argued that it is wrong for applicants to cite selective media reports to push claims that he should be disqualified. He said his preparation for the case was careful and detailed.
Khan also pushed back strongly against an Israeli request to dismiss the warrants. He reportedly insisted on sending a forceful 22-page response after reading what he considered a weak initial draft.
He said he assembled a panel of international law experts to judge whether the ICC had jurisdiction and whether a case should move forward against Netanyahu and Gallant.
