British human rights lawyer Karim Khan was elected on Friday as the new chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Khan, who will assume the role in June, will replace the current chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda.
According to Kan 11 News, Israel worked hard behind the scenes to try and bring about the election of Khan. This is due to the fact he is considered pragmatic when it comes to the role of the ICC, and seeks less politicization.Britain and the United States also favored Khan for the job, the report said.
Khan’s election comes exactly one week after the ICC ruled that Judea, Samaria, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem are within its jurisdiction, paving the way for a war crimes probe against Israel.
The ruling was denounced by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who described it as “pure anti-Semitism”.
The US expressed concern over the ruling, particularly about the possibility that the ICC would take steps against Israeli personnel.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas made clear that Germany’s view is that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Palestinian Authority-assigned territories “because of the absence of the element of Palestinian statehood required by international law.”
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)