Mossad chief 'threatened' ICC prosecutor over Israeli war crimes investigations in nine-year 'war' against the Hague court and deployed 'despicable tactics' likened to 'stalking', report says
- Yossi Cohen was chief of Israel's Mossad national intelligence agency until 2021
- He is said to have attempted to intimidate ex-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda
The former head of Israel's national intelligence agency allegedly tried to intimidate the International Criminal Court's former chief prosecutor into abandoning a war crimes investigation over a period of several years, it has been revealed.
Yossi Cohen, who until 2021 was the chief of the Mossad and a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reportedly embarked on a years-long campaign of threat-making and 'stalker' behaviour toward Fatou Bensouda.
The Gambian-born prosecutor in 2015 launched a preliminary examination of crimes in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Israeli military and settlers.
But Cohen is said to have told Bensouda shortly after the investigations began: 'You should help us and let us take care of you. You don't want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family.'
Sources who spoke to The Guardian went on to describe 'despicable tactics' employed by Cohen - who was said to be working as Netanyahu's 'unofficial messenger' - in his underhand efforts to influence the prosecutor.
One described compared his behaviour to that of a stalker, while another said Cohen arranged to have spies obtain secret recordings of Bensouda's husband and take photographs of the pair on a trip to London, which he later used to insinuate her family could be in danger.
Yossi Cohen, who until 2021 was the chief of the Mossad, reportedly embarked on a years-long campaign of threat-making and 'stalker' behaviour toward Fatou Bensouda
Former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in 2015 launched a preliminary examination of crimes in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem and opened a formal investigation in 2021
This combination of pictures shows (L/R): Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar, the three leaders of Hamas
Bensouda was not dissuaded from her investigation and opened a formal probe shortly before stepping down in June 2021 - in spite of Cohen's alleged attempts to change her mind.
That move came to fruition last week when current ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan accused Israel of 'collectively punishing' Palestinians in Gaza and applied for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, alongside Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwa, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh.
Khan's application for an arrest warrant for Netanyahu marks the first time a sitting western-backed leader has been targeted by the court.
The shocking revelations of Cohen's alleged intimidation of Bensouda were made in a joint investigation by The Guardian, Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, which accuses Cohen and Israel's intelligence agencies of waging a 'covert war' against the ICC and its former prosecutor spanning almost a decade.
Israeli intelligence was reported to have 'intercepted' the communications of numerous ICC officials, including chief prosecutor Karim Khan and his predecessor Bensouda, picking up phone calls, messages, emails and other documents.
This was reported to have taken place over a nine-year 'campaign'.
Cohen is said to have personally embarked on his purported campaign of intimidation after Bensouda opened the preliminary investigation into crimes committed in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The former spy chief reportedly feared that her findings could implicate key members of Israel's military and Israeli citizens in the killings of Palestinians as well as other crimes.
It is said he set out with a pair of goals in mind: to enlist Bensouda as an asset in the Hague-based court who would be deferential to Israeli operations and demands, or to compromise her and prevent her from pursuing the case.
Prior to Bensouda's decision to step down in June 2021, the former prosecutor, who went on to obtain a diplomatic role as Gambia's High Commissioner to the UK, is believed to have informed senior ICC officials about Cohen's attempts to sway her, the Guardian reported, citing four sources.
Three of the sources were 'familiar' with Bensouda's formal disclosures on the alleged attempts to sway her, the outlet reported.
Sources said Bensouda spoke out following Cohen's increased 'persistence' and the 'threatening nature of his behaviour'.
Surveillance was still ongoing 'in recent months', according to the The Guardian, which claimed Khan also faced 'tremendous pressure' from the United States over plans to issue arrest warrants against Israelis.
The ICC told the outlet none of the 'recent attacks against it by national intelligence agencies' had managed to get through to its core evidence holdings.
A spokesperson for Netanyahu's office denied the allegations, telling The Guardian: 'The questions forwarded to us are replete with many false and unfounded allegations meant to hurt the state of Israel.'
MailOnline approached the office for comment. MailOnline was unable to reach Mossad for comment.
International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan has applied for arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu and Yossi Cohen are pictured clinking glasses in 2016
King Charles III during an audience with Fatou Bensouda who presented the Letters of Recall of her predecessor, and her own Letters of Commission as High Commissioner for the Republic of the Gambia at Buckingham Palace, London. Picture date: Thursday November 3, 2022
Meanwhile, Netanyahu last week blasted current ICC prosecutor Khan for his pursuit of arrest warrants, launching a personal attack on the British lawyer and labelling him a 'great anti-Semite'.
In the Israeli Prime Minister's view, Khan's application for arrest warrants was 'a moral outrage of historic proportions' because Israel is simply 'waging a just war against Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organisation that perpetrated the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust'.
Netanyahu said Khan was one of the 'great anti-Semites in modern times', likening him to judges in Nazi Germany who were complicit in the Holocaust by denying Jewish citizens basic rights.
But if arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant are ultimately granted by the court, the Israeli officials would face considerable consequences.
Matthew Gillett, a lecturer in international law at the University of Essex in England, said anyone issued with an arrest warrant would be unable to travel to the more than 120 countries that are members of the ICC, including most European countries, Japan and Australia, or they could be detained.
Gillet also said that some allied countries could take action such as reducing weapons transfers or scaling back diplomatic visits, further increasing Israel's isolation on the world stage.
It would make 'it more difficult for Western liberal democracies to engage with Israel,' he said.
Israel continues to face pressure from its international allies over the prolonged war in Gaza.
Some 36,000 people have been killed amid an ongoing offensive by land and air in response to Hamas' October 7 incursion into southern Israel, killing some 1,170.
Israel has pledged to continue until all of the hostages taken into Gaza are returned to Israel, and has vowed to decisively defeat Hamas.
Concern over the deaths of civilians and allegations of war crimes have seen many Western nations urge greater restraint in Israel, and push for a lasting peace process.
Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognised Palestinian statehood today in a coordinated decision that has infuriated Israel.
Their move brings to 145 out of the 193 UN member states that have recognised a Palestinian state.
Still, no member of the Group of Seven industrial powers - including France, the United Kingdom and the United States - have done so.
