ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said Britain threatened to cut funding to the International Criminal Court if it moved forward with arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to a court filing dated December 11, 2025.
Khan stated that during an April 23, 2024 phone call, an unnamed British official warned that issuing the warrants would be disproportionate and could prompt the UK to withdraw funding and exit the Rome Statute. The allegation was first reported by *The Guardian* on December 12, 2025.
The UK has not publicly responded to the claim. Khan made the disclosure while defending his decision to pursue the warrants over alleged war crimes in Gaza, emphasizing that the move was taken independently and following legal consultation.
