ICC Prosecutor Behind Netanyahu Warrant That Sparked Mamdani Arrest Threat Fired Over Sexual Misconduct

The International Criminal Court prosecutor behind the arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — a warrant that figured prominently in New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pledge to detain the Israeli leader — was removed from his post Friday after member states voted to oust him amid sexual misconduct allegations.

Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, was dismissed by the Assembly of States Parties, the court’s 125-member governing body, after disciplinary proceedings connected to allegations involving a junior female employee in his office. Khan has denied any wrongdoing.

The vote made Khan the first sitting chief prosecutor in the International Criminal Court’s history to be forced from office. His removal came only days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a U.S. effort to “dismantle” the ICC, arguing that the court poses a threat to American sovereignty.

Khan emerged as one of the most polarizing prosecutors on the global stage after seeking ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The court issued the warrants in November 2024, drawing sharp rebukes from both Israel and the United States, neither of which belongs to the ICC.

The arrest warrants also spilled into New York City politics, where Mamdani repeatedly cited the ICC case against Netanyahu. During his campaign, Mamdani said he would seek to arrest Netanyahu if the Israeli prime minister traveled to New York. After taking office as mayor, he acknowledged the city does not have the authority to enforce the warrant, while urging the federal government to act.

Headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, the International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal established under the Rome Statute. It prosecutes individuals accused of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression in cases where national courts are unable or unwilling to act.

The allegations against Khan have triggered a crisis for the court. Reuters reported that 82 of the ICC’s 125 member states voted in favor of his removal, exceeding the absolute majority required. Khan had previously stepped aside in May 2025 while a U.N. oversight investigation was underway and was suspended in June 2026 pending the final vote.

The Associated Press reported that the court’s oversight body found Khan had committed “serious misconduct.” The case involved allegations from a female aide who said Khan engaged in nonconsensual sexual conduct. Khan’s lawyers have denied the allegations and called the removal process legally flawed and unsupported by evidence.

The woman, identified only as Sarah, went public in a CNN interview last week. “There is no way for something to be consensual when you have such a power disparity,” she told CNN.

Khan’s legal team rejected the vote and said he would challenge the decision. Tayab Ali, partner at Bindmans LLP and head of Khan’s legal team, said in a statement that the Assembly of States Parties had disregarded due process concerns raised publicly by more than 180 nongovernmental organizations and senior international lawyers.

“The decision is unsupported by any lawful or properly reasoned finding that Mr Khan KC committed misconduct or breached his duties as Prosecutor,” Ali said. “He has denied the allegations from the outset and continues to do so.” Ali said the allegations were investigated for more than a year by the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services and argued that “there is not a single finding of misconduct, including sexual misconduct, anywhere in the OIOS report.” He also said a three-judge panel unanimously determined in March 2026 that the factual findings made by OIOS did not establish misconduct or breach of duty by Khan.

Khan’s lawyers accused the Assembly of States Parties of removing him through a politically driven and procedurally unfair process, saying Khan and his lawyers were not allowed to make formal submissions to the Assembly before the vote.

“The Prosecutor of this Court has been removed by an executive vote while under sanctions and while the Court is under immense political pressure,” Ali said.
Ali said Khan “will challenge the lawfulness and fairness of the decision through all available legal mechanisms.”

Israeli officials argued Friday that Khan’s removal undermined the legitimacy of the ICC’s actions against Netanyahu.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told INC News that Khan believed “by launching a political witch hunt against Israel and issuing a politically-motivated arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu, the world would ignore the grave sexual misconduct allegations against him.”

“He was wrong,” Danon said. “He sought to scapegoat Israel in an attempt to divert attention from his own misconduct. The international community rejected that cynical attempt today.”

Danon added, “The attacks against Israel, which were intended to distract from his disgraceful conduct, did not save Karim Khan, and they will not help Zohran Mamdani either.”

Anne Bayefsky, president of Human Rights Voices and director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, told INC News that Khan’s fall should not be viewed as an isolated scandal. “He unexpectedly requested arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and defense minister within weeks of discovering his sexual deviancy had been revealed. He accused his victim of being a Mossad agent. He and his lawyers constantly repeated the refrain that Israelis were behind the accusations.”

Bayefsky claimed that Khan’s conduct has damaged the ICC itself. “Now there is a massive campaign to save the ICC from Khan. On this logic, Khan’s anti-Israel fanaticism never tainted his investigation of Israel, his arrest warrant request against Israelis, his submissions to the ICC Court, the evidence he placed before the Court, or the analysis and conclusions of the ICC Court that placed their trust in him when they decided to grant his warrant requests.”

The ICC has not said Khan’s removal affects the Netanyahu and Gallant warrants, which were issued by judges after Khan’s request.

Requests sent to Khan’s office for comment were not answered by the time of publication.