International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan was pursuing arrest warrants for two Israeli cabinet ministers—Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir—prior to going on leave this month, according to a report on Wednesday.
Citing unnamed officials, The Wall Street Journal reported that Khan was targeting the two ministers over their roles in advancing the expansion of Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.
Ben-Gvir responded defiantly to the report.
“No arrest warrant of any kind will deter me from continuing to work for the people of Israel and the Land of Israel,” Ben-Gvir wrote on X. “When The Hague is against me, I know I am on the right path.”
Khan is currently under external investigation over allegations of sexual assault. He took leave from his position on May 16. According to reports, at least one former employee has accused him of making unwanted sexual advances, claiming he later urged her to stay silent so he could proceed with actions against Israeli officials. Khan has denied any sexual misconduct.
While the ICC declined to comment on the report with regard to Ben-Gvir or Smotrich, it told the newspaper that it had a mandate to investigate alleged crimes committed in what it refers to as the “Palestinian territories,” based on the Palestinian Authority’s 2014 acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction. Israel disputes this claim, arguing that the P.A. is not a universally recognized sovereign state and therefore lacks the legal standing to grant such jurisdiction.
Khan is already under U.S. sanctions, which the ICC claims have impeded its operations. The Trump administration had considered imposing additional sanctions, which could have significantly affected the court by severing its access to the U.S. financial system.
The cases targeting Smotrich and Ben-Gvir were reportedly intended to complement the arrest warrants issued by the court in November against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes related to the conflict in Gaza.
Israel has firmly rejected the charges, accusing the ICC of politically motivated actions and alleging that the court is singling out the Jewish state due to bias and antisemitism.