Netanyahu slams 'corrupt and morally bankrupt' court

Report: Qatar offered to ‘look after’ ICC prosecutor who issued warrants for Israeli leaders

Manager of private intel operation to discredit woman accusing Karim Khan of sexual abuse says in recording that the prosecutor is backed by Doha, according to WSJ editorial

Qatar allegedly promised to “look after” the International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan after he issued arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant in 2024, according to a reported witness statement submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

The statement was submitted by an anonymous individual familiar with a reported Qatar-commissioned operation by the Highgate and Elicius intelligence firms to discredit a woman who accused Khan of sexual abuse, according to an editorial published Monday in the Wall Street Journal, which said it reviewed the document along with several supporting audio recordings.

The witness statement describes one of the recordings, from August 5, involving a conversation by the private intelligence team about Khan after a source from Elicus claimed the Mossad spy agency believed the prosecutor was a Qatari agent.

“I spoke to the client about it,” the intelligence operation’s manager was reportedly heard saying in the audio clip, “and they weren’t surprised that it had leaked that they were wrapping their arms around him.”

“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 manager reportedly said, referring to the arrest warrants.

Two sources confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that private investigators discussing a “client” and “Q country” in the recordings were referring to Qatar.

When asked, the manager was said to affirm that Khan was supported by the Qatari state, and not just by a specific sheikh. “No, it’s the state,” he said, according to the report.

In a June 3 recording, investigators are heard discussing attempts to link Khan’s accuser to Israel, as part of efforts to discredit her. Despite their endeavors, no such information was uncovered, according to the Guardian report on the operation in November.

Among the points discussed by the investigators is whether the woman “didn’t have a Jewish grandmother,” or if she had a secret Israeli passport — a theory the editorial said was noted in a June 6 document by Highgate to Elicius.

In a reported June 15 recording, an investigator claimed that Khan’s accuser’s husband worked for a company with a kosher-food subsidiary in the past, noting, “There’ll be a rabbi associated with it.”

“It could be good cover employment” for a spy, the researcher added.

Investigators reportedly also entertained the idea that the accuser was being manipulated by someone with a nefarious intent, probing connections to Tom Lynch, a former top aide of Khan who reported the sexual assault allegation.

The June 6 document sought to “Establish any ties between Thomas Lynch and Israel / Jewish heritage.”

The operation’s manager asked, “Anything else that you’re getting on Lynch?” in the June 15 recording.

In a document entitled “Further context on TL” reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, investigators said that Lynch had ties to pro-Israel GOP Senator Lindsey Graham.

“TL clearly has some sort of liaison role – perhaps it is not with the State Dept but with e.g. Israel political lobby on the Hill,” the reported document said. This premise was deemed suitable to be part of the “second stage of the investigation,” the researchers reportedly said.

The editorial said several US Congress members are aware of the witness statement and that it was submitted to the FBI to request an investigation.

Responding to the report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the ICC, calling it a “corrupt and morally bankrupt institution” that “should be closed,” amid renewed controversy surrounding the court’s prosecutor.

In a post on X, Netanyahu said the ICC has acted as a “lawfare platform used by rogue regimes,” insisting the case against Israel over the war against Hamas was baseless from the outset.

“It was clear from Day 1 that there was no merit to the absurd accusations against the State of Israel,” he wrote, adding that Israel has fought “a just war by just means against a terrorist organization.”

The ICC Office of the Prosecutor said it was “deeply concerned by the unverified allegations against its personnel.”

Highgate denied in a statement to the Journal that a government hired it to discredit any individual, but admitted it worked on a file to defend the ICC. Elicius did not respond to requests for comment.

The Qatari embassy called the allegations “unfounded.”

Lynch said the alleged operation and its theories were “disturbing” and “cross all lines of acceptable conduct.”

Earlier this month, a three-judge panel said the embattled chief prosecutor can potentially resume his duties after rejecting a United Nations investigation of the alleged sexual misconduct, according to conclusions viewed by the Associated Press.

A final decision on the fate of British barrister Karim Khan is now up to the Assembly of States Parties, the body that oversees the ICC.

Khan temporarily stepped down in May 2025 pending the outcome of an investigation by the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Service into allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has steadfastly denied.

The UN investigation found evidence that Khan had “nonconsensual sexual contact with (the aide) in his office, at his private residence, and whilst on mission,” according to a copy of its report.

Khan at one point urged the woman to withdraw her allegations, appealing to her to “Think about the Palestinian arrest warrants,” according to the accuser’s UN testimony reported by the Wall Street Journal.

In addition to the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, Khan also procured arrest warrants against three Hamas leaders, all of whom were subsequently killed by Israel.

An AP investigation revealed that Khan was facing internal accusations of sexual misconduct in October 2024.

According to whistleblower documents seen by AP, Khan is alleged to have seen the woman working in another ICC department and moved her into his office. She later became a regular presence on official trips, the documents said.

On one foreign trip, Khan allegedly asked her to rest with him on a hotel bed and then “sexually touched her,” the documents said. Later, he came to her room at 3 a.m. and knocked on the door for 10 minutes, according to allegations in the documents.

Other alleged nonconsensual behavior cited in the documents included locking the door of his office and sticking his hand in her pocket. He also allegedly asked her several times to accompany him on a vacation.

Two co-workers reported the alleged misconduct to the court’s watchdog in May 2024. The investigation was closed after five days when the woman opted against filing a formal complaint because she said she feared retaliation, AP reported at the time.

The case has taken a toll on the woman who was at the center of the case. The UN investigation said that at one point, she was placed on a suicide watch.

“I have been left with little dignity and no privacy,” she said in an interview. The AP generally does not identify those who say they have been subjected to sexual misconduct.

Khan has denied the sexual misconduct allegations.

Stav Levaton contributed to this report.