US Senator Lindsey Graham and Benjamin Netanyahu conspired to use sexual misconduct allegations against the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) chief prosecutor to try and delay the court’s arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, it has emerged.

The revelation raises further questions about an intensifying intimidation campaign, documented by Middle East Eye last year, which targeted Karim Khan and the ICC over his office’s efforts to bring Gaza war crimes prosecutions against Israeli ministers.

The conversation was reported this week by the New York Times and was in recordings taken by British filmmaker Alex Holder, who followed Graham around for three years for a documentary on his relationship with US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu.

The phone call took place on 29 October 2024, just weeks before ICC judges announced they were issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant.