The sexual assault allegations against the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Karim Khan, are not, as he claims, an attempt to punish him for demanding an arrest warrant against Israel‘s prime minister and defense minister. On the contrary, his attitude towards Israel noticeably worsened precisely after these accusations appeared.
The Wall Street Journal reports this.
The article traces in detail the changes in Karim Khan’s rhetoric and his intentions towards Israel before and after the allegations against him emerged. There is a key moment when his position became more rigid, which, according to the authors, indicates a turning point in his approach.
The article traces in detail the changes in Karim Khan’s rhetoric and his intentions towards Israel before and after the allegations against him emerged. There is a key moment when his position became more rigid, which, according to the authors, indicates a turning point in his approach.
The article notes that before the allegations surfaced, Karim Khan showed a restrained approach to Israeli actions. In conversations with American senators, he emphasized that the investigation would begin only after the end of hostilities and that criminal cases would not be initiated without personal negotiations with Israeli leaders.
Apparently, they were talking about meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant and possibly other high-ranking officials. To this end, Khan even began planning a visit to Israel, scheduling meetings for May 20. However, this trip never took place.
Suddenly, Karim Khan gave an interview to CNN, where he said that he would seek an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Galant. Following this, he canceled all plans for meetings and curtailed the preliminary investigation. This abrupt change in position caused shock in Israel and discontent among American partners, who felt deceived by his previous assurances of restraint and openness to dialogue.
A few weeks earlier, in late April, a junior employee in his office told colleagues about outrageous sexual harassment by Karim Khan. Soon details of the incidents became public. In one episode, he locked her in an office and touched her without permission.
Other times he put his hands in the pockets of her clothes. One night, Khan unexpectedly came to her hotel room, insisting on being let in.
Attacking Israel has become a convenient way for Karim Khan to divert attention from allegations of sexual misconduct. His desire to obtain arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Galant, while excluding their political opponent Benny Gantz, who was also a member of the military cabinet, from the investigation raises suspicions.
It is noted that although the cause-and-effect relationship between the accusations against Karim Khan and his attempts to obtain arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant has not been established, it allows us to understand the logic of the development of events. At the same time, the ICC refused to provide a comment to the publication’s request regarding the charges brought against Karim Khan.
Earlier, Kursor wrote that a statement in English appeared on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which condemned the ICC for the “ridiculous and shameful” decision authorizing arrest warrants for the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Israel.