ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant may have been influenced to take the heat off himself from sexual assault allegations, according to a bombshell investigative report The Wall Street Journal.
The accusations against Khan are serious and extensive. A Malaysian lawyer in her 30s who worked closely with him has testified to UN officials that Khan engaged in multiple instances of sexual abuse in various locations including New York, Colombia, Congo, Chad, Paris, and The Hague.
In one detailed account from December 2023, the woman said she met with Khan at his hotel suite near the United Nations in New York after he had been lashing out at his team amid pressure over the Gaza investigation.
“He always holds on to me and leads me to the bed,” she said in testimony reviewed by the Journal. “It’s the feeling of being trapped.”
On April 29, 2024, Khan learned that the woman had described the alleged abuse to colleagues. Just days later, on May 2, when confronted by aides, Khan reportedly responded that he would have to resign, before adding: “But then people will think I’m running away from Palestine.”
Tow weeks later, Khan suddenly canceled a long-planned trip to Israel and Gaza, where he was expected to meet with Netanyahu in a meeting arranged by lawyer Alan Dershowitz. On May 20, he publicly announced his intention to seek arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.
According to her testimony, Khan attempted to pressure the woman to disavow her allegations by invoking the Palestinian investigation.
“The casualties will unfortunately be three: You and your family, me and my family and the justice of the victims that are on the cusp of progress,” he told her. “Think about the Palestinian arrest warrants,” Khan intimidated her on another occasion.
Despite the pressure and abuse, the woman remained in her position, citing concerns about medical bills for her dying mother and fear of retaliation. Khan, through his lawyers, has categorically denied all allegations, stating it is “untrue that he has engaged in sexual misconduct of any kind.”
The United Nations’ Office of Internal Oversight Services is now investigating both the sexual assault allegations and whether Khan attempted to intimidate or retaliate against the woman and other officials who reported his alleged misconduct.
Khan has suggested the allegations are part of a wider effort to undermine the ICC, with court officials expressing concerns that intelligence agencies, including Israel’s Mossad, might be operating in The Hague to undermine the court. A report from the UN investigation is expected in the coming months, with any action to remove Khan requiring a majority vote from the court’s 125 member nations.
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