Netanyahu and Lindsey Graham conspired to use allegations of sexual misconduct against Khan to delay arrest warrants
Footage from 2024 raises new questions about an intimidation campaign against Khan, who was recently removed as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
US Senator Lindsey Graham and Benjamin Netanyahu conspired to use allegations of sexual misconduct against the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, to delay the court’s arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, according to new revelations.
The revelation raises further questions about an escalating intimidation campaign, which Middle East Eye documented last year. This campaign targeted Khan and the ICC because of his agency’s efforts to prosecute Israeli ministers for war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
The revelation comes after Graham’s death earlier this month and after Khan was removed as chief prosecutor of the ICC by a vote of the court’s member states.
The New York Times reported on the conversation. It comes from recordings made by British filmmaker Alex Holder, who followed Graham for three years for a documentary about his relationship with US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu.
The phone call took place on October 29, 2024 – just a few weeks before the judges of the ICC announced that they would issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant.
Khan had already applied for the arrest warrants in May 2024.
Netanyahu told Graham that the ICC judges would “make a decision very soon”.
The Israeli Prime Minister subsequently said that Khan was facing allegations of sexual misconduct. He told Graham that “the large cloud” created by this could help delay the arrest warrant against him.
“It is possible to request the court to say: ‘Okay, we want this reviewed before you do anything, before you issue an arrest warrant. The entire process needs to be reviewed’,” he said.
Netanyahu further stated, “This cloud or blemish must be removed.” He added: “I suggest you send a letter, perhaps together with some other senators.” Graham replied that he would try to win over Democrats as well.
“I was supposed to receive tons of shekels.”
In a second phone call later that same day, Graham said, “We have them both,” apparently referring to the two Democratic senators, Richard Blumenthal and Ben Cardin. He added, “Just send me what you want to say.”
Graham joked to Netanyahu that he should “pay me for all this. I should get tons of shekels.”
He added that “more than one dinner” would suffice and asked Netanyahu to call Blumenthal and Cardin and thank them for being “reasonable” and also for aiming to help normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The letter was sent on November 1st and also bore the signatures of Blumenthal and Cardin.
However, he could not prevent the ICC judges from issuing arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as against three Hamas officials, on November 21.
The two senators did not respond to requests from the New York Times.
Netanyahu made public accusations against Khan
Netanyahu and other Israeli ministers had previously claimed that Khan had used the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant to distract from the sexual misconduct allegations against him.
However, as an investigation by Middle East Eye revealed last year, Khan had already informed the United States of his intention to apply for the arrest warrants weeks before these allegations became public.
MEE previously reported that Graham played a significant role in putting pressure on Khan over his investigations into Israel.
On May 1, 2024, even before the arrest warrants were requested, Khan held a conference call with senior ICC officials, Graham, and a bipartisan group of senators.
According to documents seen by Middle East Eye, Graham told Khan that if he pursued the arrest warrants, he could “just shoot the hostages himself” and “we will impose sanctions on you”.
Graham also stated that the ICC was “created for Africa and thugs like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, not for democracies like Israel”.
British lawyer Andrew Cayley, who led the ICC’s Palestine investigations, told the Observer newspaper last year that Graham “shouted at us”.
In a later statement, Graham explained that the allegations against Khan, which had since become public, had cast a moral shadow on his request for arrest warrants against Israeli officials.
He said the senators had urged Khan to “respect the principle of complementarity and engage in good faith with Israeli authorities before making decisions against the State of Israel.”
Controversy surrounding Khan’s dismissal
Recently, in a secret ballot at UN headquarters in New York, 82 of the court’s 125 member states voted to remove Khan as chief prosecutor over allegations of sexual misconduct.
In March, Khan, who denies all charges, was acquitted by a panel of judges. The panel had been appointed by the Presidium of the Assembly of State Parties (ASP) to review a UN investigation into the allegations.
The judges unanimously concluded that the findings of the UN investigators “did not prove any misconduct or breach of duty under the relevant rules”.
However, a group of predominantly Western and European member states of the ASP Presidency decided to ignore the judges’ assessment and draw their own conclusion based on the UN report.
The board subsequently stated that Khan had maintained a sexual relationship with the complainant. Due to the existing power imbalance, a sexual relationship could never be appropriate.
“Khan’s removal fits seamlessly into the efforts to neutralize Netanyahu’s arrest warrant.”
Khan denies that any sexual relationship took place. The complainant’s account, which was the focus of the UN investigation, concerned allegations of non-consensual conduct.
The recent vote marked the end of an 18-month disciplinary process against Khan, which was described as politicized by Palestinian human rights groups, former judges, and Khan’s lawyers.
Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, wrote on X:
“Khan’s removal fits seamlessly into the efforts to neutralize Netanyahu’s arrest warrant. Chance is a luxury that international law can no longer afford.”
Netanyahu welcomed the decision and stated that he had spoken with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about delivering the “death blow” to the ICC.
“He reaffirmed America’s determination to take decisive action against this institution – an institution that undermines justice, attacks democratic and sovereign states, and seeks to subordinate their security to the decisions of unaccountable and corrupt officials in The Hague,” Netanyahu wrote.
Israeli media, citing anonymous Israeli government officials, reported that a working group established by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had persuaded member states of the ICC to vote against Khan.
Khan, his two deputies, and several judges were already sanctioned by the United States last year.
Rubio declared that Washington would “take apart the International Criminal Court stone by stone – if necessary”.
yogaesoteric
July 31, 2026