Ankara: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the late US Senator Lindsey Graham coordinated efforts in secret just days before the 2024 US election to undermine the International Criminal Court (ICC), as reported by the New York Times on Wednesday.

According to Anadolu Agency, recordings from British filmmaker Alex Holder unveiled that Netanyahu sought a bipartisan letter from American lawmakers to challenge potential arrest warrants against him. Netanyahu proposed leveraging sexual misconduct allegations against the then-Prosecutor Karim Khan to tarnish the proceedings. Member states of the ICC voted to dismiss Khan on Friday due to these allegations, which he denies.

Graham managed to rally support from Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Ben Cardin, informing Netanyahu, 'We got them both.' He advised Netanyahu to personally thank the Democratic senators and discuss the prospect of Saudi-Israel normalization to ensure their continued support.

The bipartisan letter, made public on November 1, 2024, detailed the allegations against Khan and criticized the ICC for not adhering to legal protocols by canceling a meeting with Israeli officials prior to seeking the warrants. Despite these efforts, the ICC proceeded to issue arrest warrants in November 2024 for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip, where over 73,000 people have been killed.