ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan attends a UN Security Council meeting on Sudan and South Sudan on 27 January 2025. [Getty]
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar lobbied International Criminal Court member states to dismiss its embattled chief prosecutor ahead of this week’s vote, Israeli media have reported.
Two-thirds of ICC members voted on Friday to remove Karim Khan, who had been involved in a protracted scandal involving allegations of sexual misconduct.
Following the vote, Israeli journalist Guy Azriel reported that the foreign minister had played an “active role” in Khan’s downfall, citing an anonymous Israeli official.
“According to the official, Sa’ar oversaw a dedicated task force and employed intensive diplomatic efforts aimed at securing Khan’s removal,” he wrote on X.
Israel has fiercely attacked the court since 2024 when it issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza.
It has claimed the indictments are politically motivated and mounted several unsuccessful legal bids to have the charges dismissed.
Following Khan’s removal, Saar renewed his call for the ICC to revoke the warrants, calling them “politicised and outrageous”.
Member states said following the vote that the proceedings against Khan were unrelated to the court’s investigations.
“The proceedings before the assembly are not related to the conduct of investigations or proceedings before the court and are without prejudice to the independence of the International Criminal Court,” it said in the statement.
Khan was accused by a junior ICC staffer in 2024 of coercive sexual behaviour over a year-long period.
The alleged victim went public with her allegations in a CNN interview earlier this month.
The 56-year-old British barrister has denied any wrongdoing and called the court’s decision in June to suspend him “unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence”.
The scandal has come at the same time as the ICC comes under unprecedented attack by the United States in retaliation to its decision to prosecute Netanyahu and Gallant.
The Trump administration has heavily sanctioned the court in response to what it called the “illegitimate and baseless” indictments of the Israeli leaders.
US companies have been banned from providing services to the court and its employees, while ICC officials have been subjected to asset freezes and travel bans.
In an op-ed earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to “dismantle the ICC brick by brick”.
Khan is thought to have sought warrants for up to five other Israeli officials in recent months, including far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Orit Strook, and two military leaders.
