ICC prosecutor issued warrants for Netanyahu to make West 'turn against Israel'

"Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, hoped that issuing arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant would make the West turn against Israel, a senior Western diplomat with firsthand knowledge of the ICC case has told The Jerusalem Post in an exclusive interview.

The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that he believed Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants against Israeli leaders was based on a combination of a desire to see powerful, Western nations turn against Israel and inspire public pressure from pro-Palestinian groups.

He recalled a conversation he had with Khan last year, where Khan allegedly said: ‘You just wait and see. If I apply for warrants against Netanyahu, this would give countries like Germany and Canada the excuse they need to turn against the Israeli government.’

‘I remember thinking to myself first: How naive can you be?’ the diplomat said.

‘But secondly, I thought: That’s not the job. You should be driven by the law and by facts and evidence, not by the thought that Germany might turn on an elected official,’ the diplomat said.

Prior to the October 7 massacre, Khan was not seen as a champion of Palestinian rights.

In late 2023, when the war between Israel and Hamas was at its peak, a campaign against Khan kicked off, led by the BDS movement and pro-Palestinian NGOs and activists who went after him for not clamping down on Israeli officials for alleged war crimes.

The BDS movement called Khan a ‘genocide enabler,’ demanding that he be fired and replaced with someone who would go after Israel..."