Major investigation exposes Israel working to thwart war crimes prosecutions worldwide
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A major investigation led by Mediapart in partnership with eight European media outlets has found that Israel quietly set up a specialized government department in 2010 to counter legal action against its political and military leadership abroad. Operating within the Ministry of Justice, the unit was tasked with conducting what internal documents describe as “legal warfare,” using legal, diplomatic, and political pressure to obstruct war crimes cases in European and international courts. The investigation is based on a leak of more than two million internal emails exchanged between 2009 and 2023, which detail coordinated efforts to influence judges, lobby foreign governments, and derail proceedings behind closed doors.
According to the findings, a core mission of the department was to prevent the arrest of Israeli officials under universal jurisdiction laws. Senior politicians and military figures were repeatedly warned against traveling to certain European countries to avoid the risk of detention. The leaked correspondence shows the unit claiming responsibility for the collapse of dozens of criminal and civil cases targeting Israel and its officials across Europe and beyond. It also documents direct interventions in cases involving companies accused of supplying the Israeli military or operating in illegal settlements, with legal maneuvers reported in Spain, the Netherlands, and France.
In Spain, sustained lobbying reportedly helped shut down a case against a former defense minister and senior officers accused of involvement in an attack in Gaza that killed 14 civilians, including children. In the Netherlands, the investigation found that Israel covertly financed a settlement in a lawsuit against a Dutch company supplying attack dogs to the army, while concealing its role from the Palestinian victim’s legal team.
The investigation further reveals that the department devoted significant resources to limiting action by the International Criminal Court. Internal emails cited by the media partners suggest officials believed they had managed to delay an ICC investigation into alleged war crimes in Palestine by nearly a decade. This strategy reportedly relied on discreet lobbying in The Hague and the cultivation of informal contacts inside the court, aimed at keeping the ICC engaged in prolonged jurisdictional debates rather than advancing to a formal investigation.
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A major investigation led by Mediapart in partnership with eight European media outlets has found that Israel quietly set up a specialized government department in 2010 to counter legal action against its political and military leadership abroad. Operating within the Ministry of Justice, the unit was tasked with conducting what internal documents describe as “legal warfare,” using legal, diplomatic, and political pressure to obstruct war crimes cases in European and international courts. The investigation is based on a leak of more than two million internal emails exchanged between 2009 and 2023, which detail coordinated efforts to influence judges, lobby foreign governments, and derail proceedings behind closed doors.
According to the findings, a core mission of the department was to prevent the arrest of Israeli officials under universal jurisdiction laws. Senior politicians and military figures were repeatedly warned against traveling to certain European countries to avoid the risk of detention. The leaked correspondence shows the unit claiming responsibility for the collapse of dozens of criminal and civil cases targeting Israel and its officials across Europe and beyond. It also documents direct interventions in cases involving companies accused of supplying the Israeli military or operating in illegal settlements, with legal maneuvers reported in Spain, the Netherlands, and France.
In Spain, sustained lobbying reportedly helped shut down a case against a former defense minister and senior officers accused of involvement in an attack in Gaza that killed 14 civilians, including children. In the Netherlands, the investigation found that Israel covertly financed a settlement in a lawsuit against a Dutch company supplying attack dogs to the army, while concealing its role from the Palestinian victim’s legal team.
The investigation further reveals that the department devoted significant resources to limiting action by the International Criminal Court. Internal emails cited by the media partners suggest officials believed they had managed to delay an ICC investigation into alleged war crimes in Palestine by nearly a decade. This strategy reportedly relied on discreet lobbying in The Hague and the cultivation of informal contacts inside the court, aimed at keeping the ICC engaged in prolonged jurisdictional debates rather than advancing to a formal investigation.
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