FALCON POWERS – The British newspaper The Guardian revealed that the former head of the Israeli Mossad, Yossi Cohen, threatened the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in a series of secret meetings, where he tried to pressure her to abandon the investigation into war crimes.
The secret contacts made by Cohen with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at the time, Fatou Bensouda, took place in the years preceding her decision to open a formal investigation into war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
A senior Israeli official was quoted by The Guardian as saying that “Cohen’s personal involvement in the operation against the International Criminal Court occurred when he was the director of the Mossad, and his activities were authorized at the highest level and justified on the basis that the Court posed a threat of prosecuting military personnel.” Another Israeli source familiar with the operation against Bensouda said the Mossad’s goal was to recruit the Prosecutor as a person cooperating with Israel’s demands.
A third source familiar with the operation said that Cohen was like an “unofficial messenger” for Benjamin Netanyahu.
Four sources confirmed that Bensouda informed a small group of senior officials at the International Criminal Court of Cohen’s attempts to influence her, amidst concerns about the nature of his ongoing and increasingly threatening behavior.
