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Lawyers Group Challenges ICC Prosecutor Over ‘Bogus’ Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
British lawyers have mounted a challenge against the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, demanding a review of the arrest warrant issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which they claim is based on “entirely false” allegations.
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has warned that if Khan, who is also a British barrister, does not re-examine the evidence supporting the warrant, the group will report him to the UK Bar Standards Board for potential misconduct.
UKLFI’s letter to Khan alleges that “highly relevant evidence” has emerged since the arrest warrant was issued against Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant which they claim undermines the charges. The new evidence has not been put forward to the judges, something that the lawyers argue “amounts to a serious lack of integrity.”
“Every phrase of every sentence of [Khan’s] published summary of his applications for their arrest is false. It is a travesty that would do credit to the prosecutor of Albert Dreyfus,” Jonathan Turner, the chief executive of UKLFI and one of the three signatories of the letter, told The Algemeiner in a statement.
Dreyfus was a French army officer falsely convicted of espionage in a landmark case that sparked antisemitic violence across France.
UKLFI’s letter was released a day after the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) published a report highlighting past remarks from Khan, prior to his appointment as the UN court’s top prosecutor, in which he sharply criticized the International Criminal Court’s prosecution for its inadequate standards of proof, going so far as to describe the court as “not seaworthy.”
The Algemeiner contacted Khan’s office for a response to the allegations but did not receive a reply.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), under Khan’s leadership, has actively pursued arrest warrants against officials from both Israel and the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group, prompting outrage from Israel at the implied comparison between the sides.
The ICC has charged Netanyahu and Gallant with war crimes in Gaza, accusing them of actions such as using starvation as a method of warfare and intentionally targeting civilians.
The lawyers asserted that the ICC has failed to consider exonerating evidence and has presented a deeply misleading picture of the events. The 24-page rebuttal also disputes claims that Israel imposed a “total siege” on Gaza, arguing instead that humanitarian aid was allowed and that services like water and electricity were not intentionally cut off. In one instance, the prosecution relied on findings from a March report about famine in parts of the Gaza Strip. The report was discredited in a June review by the Famine Review Committee (FRC) as “implausible,” but the chief prosecutor did not update his arrest application accordingly.
In another instance, the UKLFI lawyers vehemently contested the claims that Israel intentionally disrupted essential utilities, arguing instead that Israeli forces undertook repairs on water pipelines, while Hamas was responsible for destroying nine out of ten power lines supplying Gaza from Israel.
Khan has come under fire for making his surprise demand for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on the same day in May that he suddenly canceled a long-planned visit to both Gaza and Israel to collect evidence of alleged war crimes. The last-second cancellation infuriated US and British leaders, according to Reuters, which reported that the trip would have offered Israeli leaders a first opportunity to present their position and outline any action they were taking to respond to the war crime allegations.
“This matters to more than just Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant. If the prosecutor can have the court issue arrest warrants on the basis of bogus allegations, no one is safe from the risk of arrest and possibly years of imprisonment in The Hague, even if eventually acquitted,” Turner said.
Only the prosecutor himself decides what information is provided to the court when it considers whether to issue an arrest warrant, Turner explained, putting him in a “very powerful position.”
“He is supposed to act impartially, seeking truth objectively, obtaining and providing evidence that shows innocence as well as guilt,” he said, but added that now he was seeking Netanyahu and Gallant’s arrests “on the basis of completely false information.”
One of the key points of contention is the killing of three humanitarian aid workers from World Central Kitchen by Israeli forces, which the ICC cited as a war crime. The UKLFI letter references an Australian-led investigation that found the Israel Defense forces (IDF) had mistakenly identified aid vehicles as threats, and those involved were disciplined — and in some cases, dismissed entirely — for failing to follow engagement protocols.
In a 43-page essay published in 2013, eight years before he began his ICC appointment, Khan described the court as “a think tank of a court divorced or unfamiliar with the realities of criminal investigations and courtroom litigation.”
ICC procedures, he asserted, allowed the prosecutor “to submit and rely on anonymous summaries of witness evidence that may be significantly lacking in substance, coherence, or both” and cited cases in which suspects were wrongly confirmed for trial.
Three years later, in a 2016 interview, Khan described the ICC as not “seaworthy.” The top UN Court needed to be “repaired significantly”; otherwise “international justice and the credibility of the ICC” was in jeopardy.
“You must get it right in the investigative stage,” he said.
“Like an alcoholic,” Khan went on, “the first step [is] to accept that there’s a problem.” International investigations, Khan said, were a “serious business” that should not be conducted in the glare of the CNN, BBC World, and Al-Jazeera news cycle — which he said is a “disaster brought to the ICC.”
He accused the Office of the Top Prosecutor, over which he would later preside, of submitting “dog’s breakfasts” of cases that “peddled lies.”
Khan was previously the defense counsel for then-Liberian President Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor, who was later found guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, rape, slavery, and the use of child soldiers, becoming the first former head of state to be convicted for crimes against humanity by an international tribunal since the Nuremburg trials of Nazi leaders following World War II.
The post Lawyers Group Challenges ICC Prosecutor Over ‘Bogus’ Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really?
JNS.org – If I asked you to name the most famous line in the Bible, what would you answer? While Shema Yisrael (“Hear O’Israel”) might get many votes, I imagine that the winning line would be “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18). Some religions refer to it as the Golden Rule, but all would agree that it is fundamental to any moral lifestyle. And it appears this week in our Torah reading, Kedoshim.
This is quite a tall order. Can we be expected to love other people as much as we love ourselves? Surely, this is an idealistic expectation. And yet, the Creator knows us better than we know ourselves. How can His Torah be so unrealistic?
The biblical commentaries offer a variety of explanations. Some, like Rambam (Maimonides), say that the focus should be on our behavior, rather than our feelings. We are expected to try our best or to treat others “as if” we genuinely love them.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, in his classic text called the Tanya, argues that the actual feelings of love are, in fact, achievable provided that we focus on a person’s spirituality rather than how they present themselves physically. If we can put the soul over the body, we can do it.
Allow me to share the interpretation of the Ramban (Nachmanides), a 13th-century Torah scholar from Spain. His interpretation of the verses preceding love thy neighbor is classic and powerful, yet simple and straightforward.
“Do not hate your brother in your heart. You shall rebuke him, but do not bear a sin because of him” by embarrassing him in public. “Do not take revenge, and do not bear a grudge against your people. You shall love your fellow as yourself, I am God” (Leviticus 19:17-18).
What is the connection between these verses? Why is revenge and grudge-bearing in the same paragraph as love your fellow as yourself?
A careful reading shows that within these two verses are no less than six biblical commandments. But what is their sequence all about, and what is the connection between them?
The Ramban explains it beautifully, showing how the sequence of verses is deliberate and highlighting the Torah’s profound yet practical advice on how to maintain healthy relationships.
Someone wronged you? Don’t hate him in your heart. Speak to him. Don’t let it fester until it bursts, and makes you bitter and sick.
Instead, talk it out. Confront the person. Of course, do it respectfully. Don’t embarrass anyone in public, so that you don’t bear a sin because of them. But don’t let your hurt eat you up. Communicate!
If you approach the person who wronged you—not with hate in your heart but with respectful reproof—one of two things will happen. Either he or she will apologize and explain their perspective on the matter. Or that it was a misunderstanding and will get sorted out between you. Either way, you will feel happier and healthier.
Then you will not feel the need to take revenge or even to bear a grudge.
Here, says the Ramban, is the connection between these two verses. And if you follow this advice, only then will you be able to observe the commandment to Love Thy Neighbor. If you never tell him why you are upset, another may be completely unaware of his or her wrongdoing, and it will remain as a wound inside you and may never go away.
To sum up: Honest communication is the key to loving people.
Now, tell me the truth. Did you know that not taking revenge is a biblical commandment? In some cultures in Africa, revenge is a mitzvah! I’ve heard radio talk-show hosts invite listeners to share how they took “sweet revenge” on someone, as if it’s some kind of accomplishment.
Furthermore, did you know that bearing a grudge is forbidden by biblical law?
Here in South Africa, people refer to a grudge by its Yiddish name, a faribel. In other countries, people call it a broiges. Whatever the terminology, the Torah states explicitly: “Thou shalt not bear a grudge!” Do not keep a faribel, a broiges or resentment of any kind toward someone you believe wronged you. Talk to that person. Share your feelings honestly. If you do it respectfully and do not demean the other’s dignity, then it can be resolved. Only then will you be able to love your fellow as yourself.
May all our grudges and feelings of resentment toward others be dealt with honestly and respectfully. May all our grudges be resolved as soon as possible. Then we will all be in a much better position to love our neighbors as ourselves.
The post Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Nonsense’: Huckabee Shoots Down Report Trump to Endorse Palestinian Statehood
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday dismissed as nonsensical the report that President Donald Trump would endorse Palestinian statehood during his tour to the Persian Gulf this week.
“This report is nonsense,” Huckabee harrumphed on his X account, blasting the Jerusalem Post as needing better sourced reporting. “Israel doesn’t have a better friend than the president of the United States.”
Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The leader’s first trip overseas since he took office comes as Trump seeks the Gulf countries’ support in regional conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and curbing Iran’s advancing nuclear program.
However, reports citing administration insiders claimed that Trump has also set his sights on the ambitious goal of expanding the Abraham Accords. These agreements, initially signed in 2020, normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. The accords are widely held to be among the most important achievements of the first Trump administration.
The post ‘Nonsense’: Huckabee Shoots Down Report Trump to Endorse Palestinian Statehood first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Unless significant progress is registered in Sunday’s round of nuclear talks with Iran, the US will consider putting the military option back on the table, sources close to US envoy Steve Witkoff told i24NEWS.
American and Iranian representatives voiced optimism after the previous talks that took place in Oman and Rome, saying there was a friendly atmosphere despite the two countries’ decades of enmity.
However the two sides are not believed to have thrashed out the all-important technical details, and basic questions remain.
The source has also underscored the significance of the administration’s choice of Michael Anton, the State Department’s policy planning director, as the lead representative in the nuclear talks’ technical phases.
Anton is “an Iran expert and someone who knows how to cut a deal with Iran,” the source said, saying that the choice reflected Trump’s desire to secure the deal.
The post US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.