The latest twist in the world-wide warfare against Israel involves an ostensible American ally, Qatar. Yet is Qatar really an ally? According to the Guardian — a publication no one ever accused of pro-Israel bias — Doha is orchestrating a smear campaign against a woman who complained of being sexually abused by the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor, Karim Khan. Over the weekend Qatar denied the allegation. 

To get the gist of the complex tale, let’s roll back the videotape. In May, 2024, Mr. Khan abruptly canceled a scheduled visit to Israel for a fact finding tour. Instead of seeing the war for himself, he dropped a bombshell in a television appearance, telling CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that he intended to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes. Israelis were stunned. 

It later emerged that shortly prior to making public the sham prosecution of the Israelis, Mr. Khan learned that an ICC underling lodged a complaint alleging he sexually abused her. The alleged victim is now victimized again. The Guardian is reporting that a London-based firm, Highgate, which is controlled by a Qatari “high-level diplomatic unit,” is seeking to publicly air “sensitive information” about her and her child. 

In a statement issued Sunday, Qatar’s “international media office,” claimed that the story is part of a “coordinated campaign by certain bad actors to spread disinformation.” Doha is spending tens of billions of dollars on influencing Washington and besmirching enemies, including Israel and its supporters. So it is hard for us to take seriously its tears over alleged bad actors who wage anti-Doha influence campaigns.  

In an attempt to smear the unidentified 30-year-old lawyer after she complained against Mr. Khan, stories popped up at London’s Fleet Street, alleging that she was a Mossad “plant.” According to that yarn, the victim was recruited by Israeli intelligence to besmirch the prosecutor. The time line as detailed above, though, belies that allegation: The woman filed her abuse complaint prior to the prosecutor’s appearance on CNN. 

Beyond these details is Mr. Khan’s chutzpah in demanding that Israeli officials be arrested on flimsy allegations of war crimes. The Hague-based ICC has no jurisdiction over non-members, among them America and Israel. It agreed to accept a Palestinian non-state as a court member specifically so it could lodge headline-grabbing “criminal” complaints against the Jewish state, while it fends off numerous enemies seeking its destruction. 

In 2024 Mr. Khan hastily cancelled a trip to establish the truth of the post-October 7 massacres. He knew that arrest warrants against Israeli officials would make more noise than allegations on his own sexual abuse. He needed to act fast, and it worked. His successful request to the ICC judges to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials reverberated around the world. Influencers now refer to Mr. Netanayhu as a “fugitive from justice.”  

President Trump, in contrast, imposed sanctions on Mr. Khan and other ICC officials. In addition to Israel, Americans are already being targeted by the Hague for alleged crimes committed in Afghanistan. Yet one American, New York’s mayor elect Zohran Mamdani, threatens to abide by the ICC arrest warrant on Mr. Netanyahu. An emerging Doha-Gotham alliance deems unaccountable global “justice” superior to American law.