Mossad threats to the International Criminal Court: “Do not investigate war crimes in Palestine”

The Guardian reconstructs the plan of the Israeli secret services to discredit the chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. “Cohen was acting on behalf of Netanyahu”

ROME – The Israeli secret services, the infamous Mossad, have worked alongside the International Criminal Court, trying to push it to drop the investigation into war crimes in Palestine. The former head of the Israeli foreign intelligence agency allegedly directly threatened a chief prosecutor of the Court, reveals the Guardian: Fatou Bensouda.

This is the investigation that began in 2021 and culminated last week when Bensouda’s successor, Karim Khan, requested an arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu: the result that the Israeli military and political establishment feared for some time.

Cohen – reconstructs the English newspaper – was appointed director of the Mossad by Netanyahu in 2016 after having worked for several years as his national security advisor. His personal involvement in the operation against the ICC dates back to when he was director of the Mossad. According to a senior Israeli official, its activities were authorized at a high level. Another Israeli source briefed on the operation against Bensouda said that the Mossad’s goal was to compromise the prosecutor or enlist him. A third source says Cohen was acting as Netanyahu’s “unofficial messenger.”

Cohen would personally lead the Mossad’s involvement in a nearly decade-long campaign to undermine the Court. Cohen allegedly used “despicable tactics” against Bensouda to intimidate or influence her, thereby involving her family members.

Contacted by the Guardian, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office said that “the questions forwarded to us are filled with many false and unfounded accusations intended to damage the State of Israel”.

READ ALSO: The bombings continue in Rafah, 7 more dead. Netanyahu: “A tragic accident”