The International Criminal Court in The Hague on Thursday approved arrest warrants against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on suspicion of war crimes. It also approved an arrest warrant against Muhammed Dief, who was eliminated by the IDF but his death was not confirmed by Hamas, equating a murderous terror psychopath with the elected leader of the only democracy in the Middle East.

The announcement claims that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility for crimes, including shared participation in acts committed with others – war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity, including murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”

“Netanyahu and Gallant each bear individual criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentional attack against a civilian population,” it falsely states.

The immediate implication is that Netanyahu and Gallant will not be able to fly to destinations that adhere to the court’s instructions, including most Western countries—except for the United States—or risk being arrested. If Netanyahu or Gallant fly to Europe for example, the police will be required to arrest them in compliance with the court’s order, France has already announced that it will implement the ICC’s decision if arrest warrants are issued against Israeli officials.

US Senate Majority Leader-elect Senator John Thune (R-SD) said this week that the Senate will sanction the ICC at the Hague if it doesn’t halt its twisted pursuit of arrest warrants

In a poetic twist of justice, the morally depraved chief prosecutor Karim Khan, who issued the warrants, is now facing his own probe after a female aide accused him of inappropriate behavior and abuse over a prolonged period as well as coercive behavior and abuse of authority. Unsurprisingly, the court’s watchdog closed the case within five days, but last week, the ICC’s governing body said it would pursue an “external investigation” against Khan.

However, since then, the ICC has become embroiled in a major scandal as serious concerns have arisen regarding the integrity of even the “external probe” due to Khan’s links to the investigative body, the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), a watchdog that oversees probes of UN agencies.

According to a report by The Guardian, the concerns have been raised at the highest level of the court, with one concern relating to Khan’s wife, Shyamala Alagendra, who previously worked at OIOS, has “deep connections” there, and also allegedly acted “highly inappropriately” following the claims against her husband, including contacting the victim directly.

Another conflict of interest is that the OIOS’s director of its investigations unit previously worked closely with Khan at the UN, serving as one of his top officials for several years.

The ICC’s pursuit of an external probe is partially due to the pressure and scrutiny that the court has been under following Khan’s issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.

Reuters reported in July that on May 20, the same day that Khan made a surprise request for warrants to arrest Netanyahu, former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leaders, he suddenly canceled a scheduled trip to Israel to collect evidence on the decision.

Reuters spoke to eight people with direct knowledge of the matter, who said that plans for the visit had been discussed for months with US officials. The trip was intended to allow Israeli officials to present their position regarding the allegation of war crimes and for Khan and his team to collect “evidence.” Apparently, Khan decided that he didn’t need any “evidence” for his antisemitic claims.

In August, the Daily Telegraph reported that the organization UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) threatened to charge Khan, a British lawyer, with professional misconduct. The organization sent a lengthy and detailed letter to Khan refuting all his accusations against Netanyahu and Gallant and wrote detailed evidence proving his allegations false. The letter stressed that if Khan does not retract his request for the arrest warrants, which contain false information, he will have violated professional codes for English barristers and it will report him.

Khan’s lack of integrity knows no bounds. In the wake of the new allegations against him by his aide, he suggested that the claims are due to a “campaign against him” [i.e. by pro-Israel forums]. However, the allegations pre-date his case against Israel and according to The Guardian, officials who work with him do not believe the allegations are tied to any external plot.

Since the ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan, who is under investigation himself for morally corrupt behavior, requested arrest warrants against the Israeli officials, Israel has been working diplomatically behind the scenes with the U.S. and other countries to overturn the ruling.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)