ICC prosecutor seeking warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant allegedly harassed a female colleague

In May, Karim Khan requested from the ICC warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged war crimes.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), was accused by a female colleague of harassment just two weeks before he sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

In the period leading up to the announcement of the arrest warrant request, a female court official complained to a colleague about Karim Khan’s behavior, and the colleague brought the matter to the attention of senior managers.

The colleague reported that the alleged victim was in tears when she spoke of the incident involving Khan.

The matter was then brought to the Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM) at the court, and when they questioned the target of the alleged harassment, she said she did not wish to file a formal complaint.

In response to the reported incident, the IOM resolved to adopt guidelines that would “safeguard everyone’s rights.”

Paivi Kaukoranta, President of the Assembly of States Parties, said in a statement, “Following the conversation with the alleged victim, the IOM was not in a position to proceed with an investigation at that stage.”

However, Paivi added that the court has a “zero-tolerance” policy towards harassment and that “reports of misconduct are taken very seriously.”

The issue came to a head once again when the allegations against Khan were posted on an anonymous X/Twitter account.

In addition, on Friday, the IOM published its annual report, which made a veiled reference to Karim Khan and the incident.

In a 350-word statement, Karim Khan denied the allegations and insinuated that he was the target of a witch hunt.

‘This is a moment in which myself and the International Criminal Court are subject to a wide range of attacks and threats. In recent months my family including my wife and child have also been targeted,” he wrote.

Khan’s issuing of requests for requests warrants in May shocked leaders in the US, UK and Israel.

The warrants sought to charge Israel’s top brass with war crimes allegedly committed during the conflict in Gaza, and to arrest Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh.

After the ICC arrest warrants were requested, Mr Biden said: ‘…let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.’

The then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, called the request “deeply unhelpful.”

Netanyahu called it a ‘moral outrage of historic proportions.” Gallant branded it ‘despicable.’