MPs press cabinet over Israel ICC intimidation claims

Dutch MPs from both governing and opposition parties have called on the cabinet to explain what is being done to protect the International Criminal Court, after the court’s former chief prosecutor said Israel had tried to intimidate her into stopping an investigation into war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Fatou Bensouda, who led the ICC from 2012 to 2021, said she was approached by men at her home in 2015 and handed an envelope with $500 cash inside it and a phone number that Dutch investigators later traced to Israel.

She told Al Jazeera last weekend that she took this as a message that they knew where she lived. She said Israel had wanted the inquiry halted, that she had felt unsupported by the court’s member states, and that international justice was being “sacrificed to political interests”.

Hanneke van der Werf of D66, the largest party in the governing coalition, called the situation unacceptable. “If we would rather accept that ICC staff are treated this way … then we should never have become its host country,” she told RTL Nieuws. “The cabinet has work to do; these people must know they are supported.”

Explanations demanded

Kati Piri, foreign affairs spokesperson for the opposition Progressief Nederland, said it was “painful and unacceptable” that Bensouda had reported an Israeli intimidation campaign to the Dutch authorities “in vain”.

As host country, she said, the Netherlands should be leading the way in protecting the court. “This demands an explanation from the government.”

Nicole Maes, foreign affairs spokesperson for the governing VVD, also said the matter needed attention. “It is important that the court’s staff can carry out their important work,” she said. “As far as the VVD is concerned, the minister must make every effort to ensure that.”

Recurring accusations

The intimidation allegations first surfaced in a 2024 investigation by the Guardian, which reported that Israel had run an almost decade-long covert effort to surveil, pressure and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff, including Bensouda, in an attempt to derail its inquiries.

Israel denied wrongdoing. Dutch MPs called for answers at the time, but the cabinet said it could not comment on individual cases for security reasons.

Bensouda’s successor, Karim Khan, sought arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant in 2024, which the court issued that November. The United States has since sanctioned ICC judges and officials over the case.

As the court’s host state, the Netherlands has a duty to protect it and its staff. Earlier this month, the Dutch intelligence service AIVD acknowledged for the first time in its annual report that the ICC’s work faced a threat requiring extra protection, without naming the source.