Israel’s ‘thug-like tactics’: Former ICC prosecutor breaks silence about threats and intimidation

Former International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has spoken about the shocking “thug-like tactics”, threats and intimidation to which she was subjected while in office. Bensouda, who held the post between 2012 and 2021 and led the preliminary case at the ICC against Israeli officials, broke her silence about such intimidation that she faced during her nine years in office.

Speaking at a London event organised by the Bar Council of England and Wales, Bensouda revealed that she experienced “direct threats” to herself and her family while working on politically sensitive cases. While she did not explicitly name Israel, a Guardian investigation earlier this year exposed how Mossad chief Yossi Cohen personally threatened Bensouda and her family in a series of covert meetings.

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The investigation revealed that Cohen showed Bensouda photographs taken covertly of her husband during a London trip and suggested that proceeding with a full investigation would be detrimental to her career. In one menacing exchange, Cohen reportedly told her: “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.”

The threats were part of Israel’s decade-long covert “war” against the ICC, which included attempts to obtain compromising information about Bensouda and her family members. The intimidation campaign was so serious that Bensouda took the extraordinary step of briefing senior ICC officials about Cohen’s threatening behaviour.

Speaking at Tuesday’s event, Bensouda, now Gambia’s High Commissioner to the UK, insisted that the threats did not deter her from carrying on with her work. “The unacceptable thug-style tactics, threats, intimidation and even sanctions did not result in me or my office failing to fulfil our obligations,” she explained. Under her leadership, the ICC opened a formal investigation into alleged war crimes in Palestine, which her successor Karim Khan has now accelerated following Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The revelations come as the ICC faces renewed pressure following last week’s approval of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and a senior Hamas official who may or may not still be alive. Court officials are reportedly preparing for potential retaliation, particularly when US President-elect Donald Trump, who previously sanctioned Bensouda over the Palestine investigation, returns to the White House in January.

Bensouda warned that the ICC “must continue to do its jobs without political interference” and urged member states to help “insulate the court from pressure and political manipulation of any kind.” She also stressed the importance of investigating “the full extent of criminality in this devastating conflict,” including issues like illegal settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem that formed part of her initial inquiry.

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