According to The Guardian, Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen lobbied to pressure the former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague to refrain from opening an investigation against Israel.
The newspaper, considered anti-Israel, claimed that Cohen initiated a plan to pressure the prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who had already left her position, before she made the decision in 2021 to open an investigation against Israel on suspicion of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Palestinian territories.
Various sources, the newspaper said, alleged that the former Mossad chief threatened the former prosecutor in closed meetings he held with her prior to the decision to open an investigation against Israel. The investigation was opened three years ago and was behind the current prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Kareem Khan, requesting the issuance of arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Several sources told the newspaper that the prosecutor had shared with a small group of senior ICC officials the former Mossad chief's attempts to prevent her from opening an investigation and had even claimed to feel threatened by his behavior. An Israeli source said that Cohen had acted with the authority and approval of the government, and had explained that the ICC had repeatedly threatened Israel with indictments of senior officials.
Last week, the Attorney General Gali Beharav-Miara and the State Prosecutor Amit Aisman responded negatively to the request of the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. "The request for the issuance of arrest warrants against the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister is devoid of any basis," they wrote in a joint statement.
The two added that, "The State of Israel is a democratic state, which is fighting terrorism and defending its security while adhering to the binding legal rules and out of a deep commitment to the law. The security forces, and the IDF in particular, are fighting with a full commitment to the rules of international law."
"The Israeli legal system is equipped to examine any serious claim, both with regard to matters of policy and with regard to individual cases. As the State of Israel has made clear over the years, the ICC lacks any authority to conduct an investigation into the matter," they concluded.