Yasin Gungor
29 July 2026•Update: 29 July 2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the late US Sen. Lindsey Graham secretly collaborated days before the 2024 US election to discredit the International Criminal Court (ICC), the New York Times reported Wednesday.
Recordings obtained from British filmmaker Alex Holder reveal that Netanyahu requested a bipartisan letter from American lawmakers to protest potential arrest warrants against him.
The Israeli leader suggested using sexual misconduct allegations against then-Prosecutor Karim Khan to create a "cloud" or "stain" on the proceedings. Member states of the ICC voted Friday to dismiss the chief prosecutor for sexual misconduct allegations, which Khan denies.
Graham successfully recruited Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Ben Cardin for the effort, telling Netanyahu, “We got them both.”
Graham instructed Netanyahu to personally thank the Democratic senators and express interest in Saudi-Israel normalization to “encourage” their continued backing.
The resulting letter, released Nov. 1, 2024, included allegations against Khan’s sexual misconduct and argued that the ICC failed to comply with the law by canceling a meeting with Israeli officials before applying for warrants.
The ICC eventually issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip, where more than 73,000 people have been killed.
