Britain's Foreign Office denied knowledge of alleged threats that former foreign secretary Lord David Cameron is reported to have made to International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan over his insistence on seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
The denial came days after the department confirmed it was aware of a phone call, described in reports as heated, that allegedly occurred on 23 April 2024 between Cameron and Khan.
The Middle East Eye reported last June that Cameron threatened that Britain would suspend its contribution to the court’s funding and withdraw from the Rome Statute, under which the ICC was established, if Khan persisted in seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
After nearly seven months of silence, the Foreign Office acknowledged that the call had taken place. The admission came in response to a "Freedom of Information" request submitted by the Unredacted unit at the University of Westminster.
In its reply, the ministry said, "The then foreign secretary, David Cameron, was the only person present on the telephone call on April 23, 2024, with Karim Khan."
The Foreign Office did not specify when it became aware of the call, nor whether officials were informed of the substance of the conversation between Cameron and Khan.
However, informed British sources told The New Arab that the Foreign Office's information does not include the alleged threats attributed to Lord Cameron.
"With regard to claims of communications between former foreign secretary Lord Cameron and ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, officials have no record of any meeting or call in which such statements were made," the sources said.
According to The Middle East Eye, Cameron warned Khan during the call that requesting arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant would be like "dropping a hydrogen bomb", arguing that investigating and prosecuting Russia for "waging a war of aggression" against Ukraine was one matter, while prosecuting Israel was "entirely another". Cameron justified Israel's actions by saying it was "defending itself after the October 7 attacks".
He also warned that arrest warrants would have "profound repercussions" in Britain and within his Conservative Party, which was in power at the time.
Under Foreign Office rules, officials, including the foreign secretary, are required to report any work-related communications and record their contents for inclusion in departmental records.
The Foreign Office declined to answer a question from TNA regarding the current Labour government's position on Cameron's alleged threats to Khan. A spokesperson said it was "long-standing policy not to comment on the actions of previous governments".
The spokesperson reaffirmed that "the UK continues to support the ICC's independence and remains committed to its membership of the Court. Since the establishment of the ICC, the UK has consistently been one of the court's largest funders. We continue to pay our budget contributions on time and in full."
However, the spokesperson did not respond to a question on whether the current British government is committed to enforcing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant or whether it applies double standards in its approach to ICC arrest warrants.
These developments coincided with the declassification of British government documents showing that Britain resisted US efforts to undermine the court before and after the Rome Statute entered into force and the ICC began operating on 1 July 2002.
The documents show that the British government under the prime minister Tony Blair resisted attempts by the administration of former US president George W. Bush to shield Americans from accountability before the court.
They also indicate that Britain succeeded in thwarting pressure from the Bush administration on Australia not to ratify the Rome Statute.