Israel calls for ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu to be lifted

Israel's UN ambassador is calling for an international arrest warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be revoked, following the suspension of the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Karim Khan's suspension "proves that this institution is rotten to the core," Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, wrote on X on Tuesday. "Now is the time to cancel the absurd indictments against Prime Minister Netanyahu!"

Khan's suspension came amid allegations of sexual misconduct against a close colleague. The British prosecutor has been on a temporary leave of absence for over a year and intends to return once the allegations are resolved. He denies all charges against him.

Khan had been ICC chief prosecutor since 2021 and had requested the court to issue an arrest warrant against Netanyahu in 2024 for war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the Gaza war.

Due to its harsh actions in the two-year war in the coastal strip, during which tens of thousands of people were killed, Israel has repeatedly been accused of war crimes and, in some cases, genocide.

Primarily due to the arrest warrant against Netanyahu, the US intensified its pressure on the court and imposed sanctions on staff and judges.

A total of 125 states have signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, including all EU member states. The US, Russia and Israel are not parties to the court, which is tasked with investigating and prosecuting individuals suspected of committing serious atrocities such as war crimes.