No Mohammedan should ever be allowed to hold high office behind enemy lines

Karim Khan, ICC Chief Prosecutor, Now Hit with Another Accusation

Karim Khan is the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, and one more Israel-hater — there are so many — who urged the Court last year to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for “war crimes” in Gaza, and the Court dutifully complied. Now this Chief Prosecutor for the ICC is himself in ever deeper and well-deserved hot water for his own behavior. After having previously been accused by one woman of sexually “inappropriate” touching — use your imagination to summon up those groping hands, that hot breath, that priapic thrust visible through a thin layer of cloth, that blend of importunings and threats — by one ICC staffer earlier this year, he’s just been accused by another woman, who had been working as his unpaid intern, of similar behavior. More on the self-inflicted woes of Karim Khan, QC, can be found here: “Chief ICC prosecutor faces additional sexual misconduct accusation – report,” Jerusalem Post, August 

A second woman has come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, intensifying scrutiny of his conduct during a critical period for the court, according to a report by The Guardian on Thursday.

The woman, who in 2009 was an unpaid intern in her 20s, alleged that Khan made repeated unwanted sexual advances, including groping and coercive behaviour masked as professional mentorship. She described the experience as a “constant onslaught,” saying the overtures were inappropriate given his role as her superior.

Khan has again denied the allegations, stating he has “never engaged in misconduct of any kind.” He has temporarily stepped aside from his post while the matter is under review by a United Nations watchdog body.

The first misconduct allegation against Khan was made earlier this year by a court staffer in her 30s. She accused Khan of pressuring her over a prolonged period while she worked directly under him between 2023 and 2024. Following that complaint, Khan took a leave of absence, and the ICC’s governing assembly appointed his deputies to lead the office during the investigation.

How did Karim Khan pressure that ICC staffer? What kinds of quid-pro-quo might he have offered — a recommendation for a promotion, a larger salary, or perhaps the threat of demotion or dismissal if she did not do as he wished, which was much more, one suspects, than some clip-and-kissing in the dark. Perhaps Karim Khan wished to show her something of which she had no doubt seen better examples. He denies everything. Do you believe him, knowing the outrageous falsehoods he declared about Israel?

Khan’s tenure has also drawn significant political attention. In November 2024, the court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Gaza conflict. The announcement sparked outrage across Israel’s political spectrum and provoked harsh criticism from the United States. Legal scholars noted, however, that signatories to the Rome Statute would be obliged to enforce the warrants….

The developments took place amid mounting external pressure. Investigations have alleged that Israel carried out covert efforts to discredit the ICC, including intelligence operations aimed at both Khan and his predecessor, Fatou Bensouda. A panel of legal experts, including Amal Clooney, publicly supported Khan’s decision to pursue the cases, even as other reports indicated Mossad operatives attempted to surveil and intimidate court personnel.

How did Israel try to “intimidate” the court personnel at the ICC? Did the Mossad engage in blackmail? Did it unearth remarks not just by Karim Khan and his predecessor Fatou Bensouda, but also by court staff members, that revealed their deep antipathy to the Jewish state? No one has accused Israel of manufacturing anti-Israel remarks, but only of bringing them to light, a very different thing.

Supporters of Khan contend that the misconduct allegations are surfacing now in part because of these pressures. His legal team claims evidence submitted to investigators undermines the complaints. At the same time, internal ICC sources have cautioned that despite potential exploitation of the case by outside actors, there is no indication that either woman fabricated her account….

No one — save Karim Khan himself — denies the likely truth of the charges made against him by two women, one an unpaid intern in his office and the other a member of the ICC staff, of unwanted and repeated sexual advances. Karim Khan’s lawyers have now attacked Khan’s accusers, insisting the women were put up to what they claim is calumny by Mossad agents trying to undermine Karim Khan’s call for arrest warrants for two Israeli leaders. But the first complaint was made by the ICC staffer before Khan had publicly urged the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

Earlier this year, The Jerusalem Post reported that Khan had expedited the filing of warrants against Israeli leaders in an attempt to influence Western opposition to Netanyahu’s war policy in Gaza. Diplomatic sources said Khan believed the timing would increase international pressure on Israel….

Of course, that is what happened. Just after the first allegation of misconduct, Khan did the only thing he could do, aside from his barefaced denial of any infraction, which was to quickly transfer the world’s attention away from K.K. himself and his sexual misbehavior, and focus it again on Israel and the “war crimes” of its leaders.“This did not seem to work, however, and instead of letting him off the hook, the I.C.C. not only continues to investigate Karim Khan, but now has received a second complaint against him for the same kind of sexual assault. One complaint might be explained away, but two different accusers with similar stories may not be so easily dismissed.

Karim Khan will now be hoist by his own petard. It’s not his malevolent treatment of Israel that will do him in, but his insensate sexual importunings. That’s okay. Any port, as they say, in a storm.