Ex-Israeli Spy Chief THREATENED ICC Top Prosecutor, Pressures Her To Drop Netanyahu Probe: Report

[Music] it sounds like something out of a Hollywood Thriller a spy Chief persuades a top prosecutor not to file charges against his Nation even though it's been accused of committing atrocities well that appears to be the latest chapter in real life for Israel against the international criminal court now the Story begins back in 2015 then international criminal court top prosecutor began investigating Israel's possible list of crimes against the Palestinian people according to the guardian then director of mad the Israeli intelligence agency yosa Cen began exercising pressure tactics against her now his efforts did not work as her investigation culminated in the icc's arrest warrants last week for prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister yov Gant and three Hamas leaders as well per the guardian which cited multiple sources familiar with Cohen they were able to confirm his activities including confirming his desire to recruit her to drop her probe of the Palestine case and cooperate with Israel's demands instead uh Cohen whose work against the ICC span years was authorized at the highest level of Israel's government Ben suda formerly reported this pressure campaign to the ICC and as reported in the guardian allegedly said quote you should help us and let us take care of you you don't want to be getting into things that could compromise your your security or that of your family a spokesperson for Netanyahu denied these claims there was strong reaction on X investigative journalist Max Blumenthal posted quote exmad director Yosi Cohen attempted to recruit then ICC prosecutor fatua B suda when that failed he Unleashed threats and reputation destruction I wonder if the Mad managed to recruit Julia stab stab the Ugandan icj judge who always votes in Israel's favor Norman finlin also weighed in uh he has written a book really Finly on the subject uh and said it was perfectly already four years ago I wrote a full book documenting B suda's disgraceful record of whitewashing Israel it was perfectly obvious at the time that extra legal pressures were being exerted on bin suda indeed I stated in the very last sentence of my book that Israel was bringing to Bear every squalled and sorted instrument in its Arsenal against the IC so this was a real bomshell frankly with so many other news stories percolating around um the magnitude of this I think isn't quite hitting the way it should but the argument here what is being reported here is that uh after in opening this investigation in 2015 an Israeli uh Massad agent an intelligent agent basically tried to get comprom on the ICC prosecutors husband tried to uh blackmail her yeah I mean that's pretty threatening language like your family's safety you know could be enhanced by you it's a very mob kind of like you know uh you should give us protection money kind of thing uh but but they weren't seeking money they were seeking um a favorable or a dropping of this case or favorable verdicts in uh in evaluating um Israel's Behavior I mean yeah what can you say about it it's obviously corrupt and bad and they have in fact Israel is denying Netanyahu is denying having done this thing at all this is reporting uh from the guardian so take of that what you will but it's and it's very good reporting there was a lot of coporation of a bunch of different Witnesses who were involved in having um exposure to various parts of this over the years uh the article The Guardian report likened the behavior to quote stalking uh he was able to acquire her telephone number and called her repeatedly and when she asked uh how do you know my phone number uh apparently Cohen responded did you forget what I do for a living um Cohen is apparently known for having reputation doing a really good job of recruiting kind of uh foreign uh indiv individuals to work with him to advance the interest of uh the Israeli government I I suppose um and that I think is the root of Max blumenthal's tweet asking whether or not this icj judge who is often the Standalone with Israel against some of the decisions that have come out has also been influenced in these um apolitical and frankly illegal sorts of ways but that's just speculation right there's no evidence that this Ugandan official I mean I guess it is plausible we're learning about the efforts mad undertook to um Stonewall the the investigation but we're not that's just kind of you know guess work I mean it's incredible that this kind of thing is not just coming out but it's being reported in the guardian and taken really seriously I've mentioned this a couple of times over the course of the last couple of days um since the Sunday uh strike in Rafa but it does feel like there's a discernable tone shift you saw it in some of the you know really kind of mainstream reporters who were asking questions that were sort of emotionally charged of the state department spokes people you know how many charge charge bodies is it going to take we've seen some really great reporting frankly coming out of CNN um on the ground reporting they were one of the uh entities that was able to say no we see that there are tanks in central Rafa so you can't um uh make the argument that Biden's Red Line hasn't been VI ated with the red line was a ground offensive in Gaza and now you're having uh Outlets like the guardian covering not just the idea that Israel was displeased with the IC or that Israel might use kind of diplomatic means or apply kind of public pressure get way and remember we we saw this a little bit with the icj right the icj came out with this preliminary um uh decision that it would continue an investigation into the genocide claims because what was happening was plausibly a genocide and within hours right you had uh Israel making this attack against unra which got it defunded by the United States and a bunch of other peer Nations almost immediately we're kind of used to talking about that level of influence but sicking your spies on an officer of the of the U's Court um to prevent her from doing her job it's not it's the kind of accusation that really I think undercuts this narrative that Israel is a democracy of of a peer type that is worth America putting billions of dollars behind and protecting as The Shining Jewel of democracy in the Middle East I don't know that this behavior is actually unique to Israel or something that would not be going back to an earlier segment that all powerful Nations engage in this kind of uh of of persuasion for sure um yeah I mean it's not good obviously it is sure but the the narrative building around is being I've gone on the record saying that I don't really I I don't think these International um courts are the best way to adjudicate Modern Warfare um so people can you know take their decisions and do whatever they want with them but it obviously should not be the ca it is just wrong to threaten the people doing an investigation to come up with some result that you like is just wrong in and of itself so yeah and it we reported we describ this as you know an unsuccessful attempt I do think it's interesting that while um she did not the the former prosecutor did not end her investigation it wasn't her that ended up taking it over the Finish Line um she stepped down uh for prosecutor in exchange for prosecutor Khan uh and prosecutor Khan notably even though he's got a ton of flack after making the announcement that these uh ICC uh warrants were going to be issued he was the kind of choice of Israel to be the IC prosecutor he was considered to be the the the better more sympathetic more politically aligned choice but it does really feel like regardless of how willing you are perhaps to play the game on a certain political level the behavior the actions and the publicity of the actions as we're seeing them on social media of Israel and Gaza have just put everybody uh to a Tipping Point and so now we're getting coverage in the guardian that Israel tried to use its spy agencies to affect the outcome of uh the un's highest court in pursuing any kind of justice and accountability for the country more Rising right after this [Music]

Channel: The Hill

Views: 68,805

Keywords: Rising, Progressive, Progressive Politics, Democrats, Democratic Party, Republicans, GOP, Republican Party, ICC, Israel, War Crimes, Criminal Court, Gaza, Hamas, Ceasefire

Id: iSiFX0r5yVs

Length: 8min 41sec (521 seconds)

Published: Wed May 29 2024