ICC Ousts Khan

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/430720

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-903547

ICC member states vote to oust chief prosecutor Khan, Israeli officials welcome move

Amid allegations of misconduct, 82 ICC member states vote to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan, who issued arrest warrant against Netanyahu. Danon and Sa’ar welcome the move.

Member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) voted on Friday to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan from his role amid his sexual misconduct scandal, Reuters reported, citing two diplomatic sources.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the news agency that 82 of the court’s 125 member states voted in favor of the prosecutor’s removal.

Khan, a 56-year-old British barrister, faces allegations of misconduct involving a female staff member. He has consistently rejected the claims.

The controversy has unfolded over more than two years, destabilizing the international tribunal during a period of heightened external strain. Earlier this month, the United States, a long-standing critic of the tribunal, launched an initiative aimed at dismantling the 24-year-old judicial body.

Khan was suspended from his official responsibilities at the ICC in June after the executive committee of the court's oversight authority concluded he committed a “serious breach of duty and serious misconduct".

He entered the vote barred from practicing law in the United Kingdom following a suspension by the British Bar Standards Board, which is conducting its own inquiry into the matter.

In 2024, Khan spearheaded the ICC’s move to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of crimes against humanity. That action provoked intense international opposition and prompted the Trump administration to impose consecutive rounds of financial and travel sanctions against Khan and ICC personnel.

Israeli officials welcomed Khan’s dismissal. Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said, “Today at UN Headquarters, ICC member states voted to remove Prosecutor Karim Khan. Khan thought his political witch hunt against Israel and outrageous arrest warrants would distract from serious sexual misconduct allegations. He was wrong."

Addressing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is notorious for his own anti-Israel actions, Danon added, “Mayor Mamdani, take note: using Israel as a political weapon will not shield you from accountability."

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also welcomed Khan’s removal and said, “The long-delayed removal of Karim Khan from the ICC for serious misconduct has exposed the moral bankruptcy of a corrupt Prosecutor who rushed to file scandalous arrest warrants against Israel’s PM and former DM, in an attempt to deflect from the serious misconduct he feared would be revealed."

Sa’ar added, “These were politicized and outrageous arrest warrants against elected leaders of a democracy with an independent legal system defending its citizens against terror. These warrants, issued against a country that is not even a member of the ICC, should never have been sought in the first place and should be revoked immediately."

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/430720

ICC dismisses prosecutor Karim Khan over sexual misconduct allegations

Member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday voted to dismiss Karim Khan as prosecutor following allegations of sexual misconduct, two diplomatic sources told Reuters.

According to the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, 82 of the court's 125 member states voted in favor of the prosecutor's removal.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said that in voting to dismiss Khan, the international community rejected Khan's decision "to scapegoat Israel in an attempt to divert from his own misconduct."

"Karim Khan believed that by launching a political witch hunt against Israel and issuing a politically motivated arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu, the world would ignore the grave sexual misconduct allegations against him. He was wrong," Danon said.

"Those who attempt to prosecute Israel will not escape accountability. They will also lose the trust of the international community. The attacks against Israel, which were intended to distract from his disgraceful conduct, did not save Karim Khan, and they will not help [New York City Mayor] Zohran Mamdani either," he added.

Venezuela notifies UN of withdrawal from ICC

Venezuela has formally notified the United Nations of its "irrevocable" decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia said on Friday.

The government justified the move by alleging a "geographical bias" within the court, claiming it disproportionately targets nations in the Global South, specifically across Africa and Latin America, Plasencia said in a post on X.

Rubio decries 'lunatics' at court

During a visit to the Philippines on Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there were "lunatics and crazies involved in the ICC," and there was no way any US political or military officials would ever go on trial at the court, reiterating previous criticism.

The US, which is also not a member, has already imposed sanctions on 11 ICC judges and prosecutors, including Khan, citing ⁠the ICC's ​arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, ​and a past probe into US troops in Afghanistan.

Officials from the court's governing body have said Khan should be dismissed because he committed serious misconduct by having an inappropriate ​sexual relationship with a junior staff member, according to documents seen by Reuters.

For Khan to be fired, an absolute majority of at least 63 of the court's 125 member states had to agree in the secret ballot held at a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York.

France said on Thursday it would vote in favor of the removal of Khan, who has been suspended since June, after being on voluntary leave since May 2025 while awaiting the outcome of the internal investigation.

The Netherlands, which hosts the court in The Hague, has also said it would support his dismissal.

 Election process begins 

Khan's accuser, a junior ICC staffer, spoke publicly for the first time last week in an interview with CNN in which she repeated her allegations that the prosecutor had a non-consensual sexual relationship with her.

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-903547

The US State Department praised the removal of International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan over serious misconduct.

In a post on X, US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott wrote, "Karim Khan is a quintessential example of the ICC's corruption and abuse of its supposed authority. It is good that he is gone, but he is only one small cog in this irredeemably corrupt institution. Today's outcome will have no impact on the United States' plans to dismantle the ICC."

His statement follows US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's criticism of the ICC's arrest warrants and conduct. In a press briefing earlier this week, Rubio said, "We’re not members of the ICC. We never signed that treaty; we never joined it. And they somehow claim that they have a right nonetheless to go after non-treaty members and put heads of state and others in jail."

"We’ve long had quarrels with them, and we have lunatics and crazies involved in the ICC that are talking about charging members of the US military, maybe even the President or a future president, with crimes. And it’s not going to happen; it’s just not going to happen.

"We are not members of that court; we never signed on to that treaty. They need to understand that. If people want to sign and be a part of that stupid organization, they can. But we’re not going to be a part of it, and they’re not going to apply their jurisdiction to Americans. That’s just not going to happen. We’re not going to tolerate it now or in the future, and we’ve warned them about it repeatedly. And now they’re going to see the consequences of ignoring us."

Earlier, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said, "The long-delayed removal of Karim Khan from the ICC for serious misconduct has exposed the moral bankruptcy of a corrupt Prosecutor who rushed to file scandalous arrest warrants against Israel’s PM and former DM, in an attempt to deflect from the serious misconduct he feared would be revealed," Sa'ar said.

"These were politicized and outrageous arrest warrants against elected leaders of a democracy with an independent legal system defending its citizens against terror. These warrants, issued against a country that is not even a member of the ICC, should never have been sought in the first place and should be revoked immediately."

Earlier this month, the United States, a long-standing critic of the tribunal, launched an initiative aimed at dismantling the 24-year-old judicial body.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/430733