Israel submitted an appeal to the International Criminal Court on Monday asking it to disqualify Prosecutor Karim Khan from any involvement in proceedings regarding Israel and revoke the arrest warrants against Israeli leaders he issued.

Two women have accused Khan of severe harassment since he issued the arrest warrants, and it is now believed that he used the warrants to deflect attention from the accusations. Khan was also accused of taking revenge on staff who supported his first accuser.

It should be noted that The Guardian reported earlier this month that the first woman who accused Khan of assault was later targeted by private intelligence firms hired by Qatar in a covert operation to discredit her credibility and her claims against Khan.

According to the report, the intelligence operation, which was commissioned by a high-level government office in Qatar, also unsuccessfully sought to establish ties between the woman and Israel.

Khan’s victim told the Guardian, “The idea that private intelligence firms have been instructed to target me is as incomprehensible as it is heartbreaking.”

The Wall Street Journal reported in May that Khan issued the arrest warrants against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant in order to deflect attention from the rape charges brought against him. He issued the warrants less than three weeks after the first accusations were made against him.

Additionally, a senior Western diplomat with firsthand knowledge of the ICC case told the Jerusalem Post in May that Khan issued the warrants against the Israeli leaders in order to “give countries like Germany and Canada the excuse they need to turn against the Israeli government.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Monday, saying, “The State of Israel submitted today to the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) a request to disqualify the Court’s Prosecutor, Mr. Karim Khan, from involvement in proceedings concerning Israel. Additionally, Israel requests that the Court cancel the baseless arrest warrants issued by the Prosecutor against the Prime Minister, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, and the former Minister of Defense, Mr. Yoav Gallant.

“The request was submitted following information and grave reports raising serious concern that the Prosecutor acted out of improper personal motives to advance false and unfounded allegations against Israel. These actions were intended to divert public attention from severe accusations against him of serial sexual harassment of a subordinate employee. In this context, the Prosecutor advanced baseless and outrageous warrants against the Prime Minister and the former Minister of Defense of a democratic state.

“The State of Israel emphasizes that the contamination of the proceedings caused by the Prosecutor’s conduct is profound and irreparable. Therefore, Israel requests that the Court’s Appeals Chamber disqualify the Prosecutor from involvement in cases relating to Israel and to declare that the arrest warrants issued against the Prime Minister and the former Minister of Defense are of no force or effect.

“The aforementioned request in no way affects Israel’s other claims regarding the invalidity of the warrants, including due to the Court’s lack of jurisdiction.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)