UK govt finally admits Cameron’s call to threaten ICC’s Khan over warrants

A Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request has forced the Foreign Office (FCDO) to admit — finally — that then-foreign secretary David Cameron called International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan to threaten him and the ICC, and demand the withdrawal of an arrest warrant for Israeli war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu.

The FOI was filed last month by ‘Unredacted’ a University of Westminster research unit focusing on national security.

Unredacted asked the FCDO to confirm who was present on the 23 April 2024 call to Khan. It confirmed that David Cameron was the only one. Karim Khan confirmed last month that a “senior British official” had threatened to withdraw the UK from the ICC if Khan’s application for warrants for Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant was not withdrawn.

The University of Westminster’s Prof Sam Raphael said:

The revelation confirms what has long been reported – that it was the then foreign secretary, David Cameron, who spoke on the phone with Khan in April 2024, at the height of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

This raises serious questions about the role of a senior minister in threatening the impartiality of the ICC, especially given the myriad forms of military, intelligence and diplomatic support provided by the UK to Israel at the time.

Although many would agree that the ‘rules-based international order’ is a fiction, if it was to mean anything then the UK and other powers would do all they can to support rather than undermine attempts to achieve accountability for genocide. It is increasingly clear that the UK under the last government failed in this duty.

Cameron has not responded to requests for comment.

Israel is a terror state. As a US ‘poodle’, the UK has made itself a rogue state — waging war not just on the ICC but on the rights and freedoms of UK citizens. All to protect Israel and its war criminals from scrutiny and consequences.

Featured image via the Canary