EU diplomat says ICC disregards findings on Karim Khan

[Opinion. The #MeToo testimony does not impact his tough prosecutions.]

Former EU top diplomat denounces ICC bureau’s disregard for judicial findings on Karim Khan

Josep Borrell says removal vote serves US-Israeli 'offensive' against ICC chief prosecutor after decision to seek arrest warrant for Netanyahu

Sondos Asem

Middle East Eye: 18 July 2026

SOURCE: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-and-israel-used-karim-khan-misconduct-claims-defang-icc-says-former-eu-top-diplomat

Josep Borrell, the former EU foreign policy chief, has denounced the bureau of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for holding a "political vote" to remove Prosecutor Karim Khan instead of upholding judicial findings that cleared him of wrongdoing.

The Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute, which comprises diplomatic representatives from the court’s 125 member states, is due to vote on Khan’s future at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on 24 July. 

Borrell argued that the Khan case is "part of a larger offensive against the ICC", citing the US sanctions and threats targeting Khan and other officials following his decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders in May 2024.

"One need not believe in conspiracies to see the confluence of interests between US and Israeli leaders," he wrote. "The Trump administration and Netanyahu want the same thing: to ensure that no international court can touch soldiers, border agents, or its chosen allies, no matter how serious the allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Both see the "Khan scandal" as the perfect occasion to defang the court. 

"They do not need to destroy it from the outside if its own member states can hollow it out from within, ignoring a judicial finding to hold a political vote against the man who signed the warrants that most inconvenienced them."