Qatar promised to “look after” the International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan if he indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the case for war crimes and crimes against humanity due to the war in Gaza, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
According to the WSJ report, which cited a witness and an audio recording, Qatar was pushing for the investigation in order to “look after” Khan, after the sexual assault allegations that were brought up against him.
The investigation mentions an earlier report by The Guardian where two private investigation firms, Highgate and Elicius Intelligence, were working in the hopes of discrediting Khan’s alleged assault victim.
The report also mentions that the recording, which centers on two investigators discussing Khan’s case and a “client country,” was submitted to the FBI to request an inquiry and is known to several Members of Congress.
Netanyahu addressed the report with a statement saying, “The ICC is a corrupt and morally bankrupt institution that should be closed. It was clear from Day 1 that there was no merit to the absurd accusations against the State of Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Israel waged a just war by just means against a terrorist organization that slaughtered our people.”
In the recording mentioned in the report, which The Jerusalem Post couldn’t verify, one of the investigators said, “I spoke to the client about it [referring to suspicions about links between Khan and Qatar]. They weren’t surprised that it had leaked that they were wrapping their arms around him.”
“It’s not that long that they wrapped their arms around him,” another investigator pointed out in the recording, according to the WSJ. “It’s all in the context of issuing the warrant. That was basically the deal. He was like, ‘I want to issue the warrant, but I’m terrified to do it.’ And they said, ‘If you do it, then we’ll look after you.’”
The WSJ contacted both private investigation firms for comment, with Elicius not replying to the request while Highgate said in a statement that it only worked n a file in defense of the ICC, denying any state or government entity involvement.
Additionally, Khan’s lawyer said that neither the prosecutor nor his team had any involvement in such an intelligence operation. “Our client was not offered or given (and would not have sought or accepted) any ‘promise’ by any state (whether Qatar or any other) to ‘look after’ him if he applied for the arrest warrants,” read his statement.
Additionally, the WSJ’s witness suggested that the private investigators targeted two Americans: Tom Lynch, the senior ICC official who first reported the assault allegation, and Sen. Lindsey Graham.
ICC votes to advance disciplinary measures against Khan
Earlier in April, the ICC member states voted to pursue disciplinary proceedings against Khan after receiving reports regarding sexual assault allegations against him, Reuters reported, citing two sources.
In the vote done by a core group of member states, 15 voted in favor, two abstained, and four voted against moving forward with the process, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The prosecutor’s office said it would not comment on the continuation of the proceedings, as it was an ongoing process.
The International Criminal Court has been thrust into crisis by the investigations into Khan – its most prominent official – as well as by US sanctions over the court’s actions, including arrest warrants for Israeli officials for alleged war crimes.
Reuters contributed to this report.
