Former Mossad head Yossi Cohen allegedly threatened then-chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, in secret meetings and tried to pressure her into abandoning a war crimes probe, which was later launched in 2021, The Guardian reports.

It noted that the investigation culminated last week when Bensouda’s successor, Karim Khan, announced that he was seeking an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s conduct in its offensive in Gaza.

Four sources confirmed to The Guardian that Bensouda had briefed a small group of senior ICC officials about Cohen’s attempts to sway her, amid concerns about the increasingly persistent and threatening nature of his behaviour.

According to accounts shared with ICC officials, Cohen is alleged to have told Bensouda: “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 revelations about Cohen’s operation form part of a forthcoming investigation by The Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, revealing how multiple Israel intelligence agencies ran a covert “war” against the ICC for almost a decade.

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