
ICC Showdown Looms: Court Set to Vote on Ousting Prosecutor Behind Netanyahu Warrants
The International Criminal Court is preparing for a dramatic decision next month, with member states scheduled to vote on July 24 on whether Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan should be removed from his post, according to a report Thursday by The Wall Street Journal citing diplomatic sources and internal documents.
The upcoming vote follows a decision last week by the ICC’s oversight body to temporarily suspend Khan from carrying out his duties while officials determine his future. The action came after an extensive investigation into harassment allegations lodged against him.
According to a diplomatic source familiar with the proceedings, the executive bureau of the court’s governing assembly concluded that Khan had engaged in serious misconduct. Reuters reported that the determination marks the end of an 18-month probe into the accusations.
Khan has consistently denied wrongdoing and has rejected the allegations throughout the investigation.
The controversy has drawn additional attention because of Khan’s role in seeking arrest warrants against Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Khan announced his pursuit of those warrants less than three weeks after the first sexual harassment allegations surfaced, fueling claims by critics that the legal action may have been politically influenced.
Although Khan did not directly suggest that Israel was responsible for the accusations against him, he referenced outside pressure in a public response, stating that both he and the ICC had been subjected to “a wide range of recent attacks and threats” in recent months.
At the same time, an extensive investigation conducted by The Guardian found no evidence linking Israel—or any other foreign government—to the central allegations made against Khan.