Ex-British Foreign Secretary Threatens UK Withdrawal from ICC over Israel Arrest Warrants

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron, serving as Foreign Secretary in 2024, threatened to defund the International Criminal Court (ICC) and withdraw the UK from its founding treaty if ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan pursued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders. The ICC had issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders, for alleged war crimes in the Gaza conflict. Cameron reportedly warned Khan during a tense phone call that such actions would be "like dropping a hydrogen bomb" and criticized the ICC for drawing a "moral equivalence" between Israel and Hamas, emphasizing the political and legal consequences for the UK. Khan defended the court's impartiality, arguing that withdrawing would undermine the rules-based international system and that investigations targeted all parties involved, including Hamas. British parliamentarians reacted with concern, stressing the importance of equal application of international law and expressing shock at Cameron's threats. The revelations highlight tensions between political interests and judicial independence in the context of ongoing war crime investigations.