The ICC chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, has accused Israeli intelligence officials of threatening her when she opened an investigation targeting Tel Aviv. According to a report by The Guardian, Yossi Cohen, the director of Israel’s national intelligence agency Mossad from 2016 to 2021, tried to intimidate Bensouda during several secret meetings in 2021. However, sources quoted by The Guardian said that Cohen’s efforts were unsuccessful.
The investigation also revealed that Israeli intelligence had been conducting espionage activities against the ICC for decades. They had been monitoring, infiltrating computers, pressuring, defaming, and threatening senior members of the ICC. This activity included eavesdropping on phone calls, intercepting messages, emails, and documents of ICC officials.
In response to these allegations, an ICC spokesman confirmed that they were aware of intelligence gathering activities by hostile national agencies and had taken countermeasures to protect the court’s important evidence. The Israeli Prime Minister’s office and the Israel Defense Forces denied the accusations of spying or conducting espionage activities against the ICC.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has also proposed arrest warrants for top Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize its authority. The country is currently facing accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is located within the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
