Israeli Official: Saar Ran a Task Force to Force Khan Out of the ICC
Israeli media say the foreign minister led an intensive diplomatic campaign before Friday's vote — and he is now demanding the Netanyahu warrants be revoked
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar played an active role in lobbying member states of the International Criminal Court to remove Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan ahead of the vote that led to his dismissal, according to Israeli media reports.
The reports emerged after two-thirds of ICC member states voted on Friday to remove Khan, following months of controversy over allegations of sexual misconduct. Israeli journalist Guy Azriel, citing an unnamed Israeli official, wrote on X that Saar “oversaw a dedicated task force and employed intensive diplomatic efforts aimed at securing Khan’s removal.”
The warrants behind the campaign
The reported lobbying comes against the backdrop of Israel’s long dispute with the court. In 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former military affairs minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to the war in Gaza. Israel has rejected the allegations and calls the warrants politically motivated.
Saar wasted little time after the vote, renewing his attack on the court and demanding that the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant be revoked, describing them as “politicised and outrageous.”
Israeli media also reported that, before his removal, Khan had been weighing additional arrest warrants against several senior Israeli ministers and military officials.
The court insists the two are separate
ICC member states have stressed that Khan’s removal had nothing to do with the court’s judicial work. In a statement issued after the vote, they said the proceedings concerning him “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.”
Khan, a British barrister, was accused in 2024 by a junior ICC staff member of coercive sexual misconduct over an extended period; the allegations became public in a televised interview earlier this month. He denies them and has called his suspension “unlawful, procedurally unfair, and unsupported by evidence.”
The affair has unfolded amid mounting pressure on the court from Washington over its investigations into Israeli officials. The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the ICC and its personnel, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently pledged to “dismantle the ICC brick by brick.”
Reference: PressTv