'Shameful': Humza Yousaf slams David Cameron for threatening ICC over Israel probe
Former Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf has heavily criticised David Cameron after Middle East Eye revealed on Monday that the former UK foreign secretary privately threatened to defund and withdraw from the International Criminal Court if it issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.
Cameron, then foreign secretary in Rishi Sunak's Conservative government, made the threat in April 2024 in a heated phone call with Karim Khan, the British chief prosecutor of the court.
"It is shameful that Lord Cameron allegedly threatened the ICC for having the audacity to do their job," Yousaf, who was the Scottish first minister when Cameron made the threat, told MEE on Tuesday in a significant intervention.
"He should immediately come clean and apologise if this was indeed the case."
Cameron, a former British prime minister, was appointed foreign secretary by then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in November 2023.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Yousaf, a member of the Scottish National Party, served as Scotland's first minister from March 2023 to May 2024.
He strongly opposed the Conservative government's support for Israel's bombardment of Gaza and called for an arms embargo on Israel in February 2024.
'Hypocrisy'
Members of his wife's family were in Gaza when the war began in October 2023.
Yousaf told MEE on Tuesday: "These revelations show that the UK Government, under both the Conservatives and Labour, are complicit in the atrocities we are witnessing in Gaza."
'It is shameful that Lord Cameron allegedly threatened the ICC for having the audacity to do their job'
- Humza Yousaf, former Scottish first minister
MEE reported on Monday that Cameron told the ICC prosecutor over the phone on 23 April 2024 that the UK would 'defund the court and withdraw from the Rome Statute' if the ICC issued warrants for Israeli leaders.
Khan replied that 'if this were to occur then we would have to accept that the rules-based system would be dead'.
MEE revealed details of the call based on information from a number of sources – including former staff in Khan's office familiar with the conversation and who have seen the minutes of the meeting.
Yousaf said: "Successive UK governments, including when Lord Cameron was prime minister, would often publicly lecture other governments on the importance of international law, while it seems privately content to undermine the equal application of the law.
"That is hypocrisy of the highest order."
Cameron told Khan applying for warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant would be 'like dropping a hydrogen bomb'.
Exclusive: David Cameron threatened to withdraw UK from ICC over Israel war crimes probe Read More »
He said Khan was 'on the brink of making a huge mistake" and that "the world is not ready for this".
According to MEE's sources, the foreign secretary spoke aggressively and repeatedly shouted over Khan, who had to ask to be able to complete his points.
"The ICC should operate free from political pressure and influence," Yousaf told MEE.
"Given the scenes of starvation, death and destruction we are witnessing in Gaza, we should be applauding the ICC for not bowing to pressure from those who publicly purport to support international human rights law, but work behind the scenes to undermine it."
Yousaf's criticism of Cameron, who currently sits as a Conservative peer in the House of Lords, comes as several British MPs criticised the former prime minister.
Approached by MEE for a response to the exchange with Cameron, Karim Khan said: 'I have no comment to make at this time.'
The British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office declined to comment and Cameron did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Etihad
an hour ago
- Al Etihad
EU, Britain reach post-Brexit deal on Gibraltar Border
12 June 2025 00:14 BRUSSELS (WAM)The European Union (EU) and Britain have agreed on the status of the overseas territory of Gibraltar, facilitating border crossings and resolving years of political territory has had its border arrangements with Spain as a significant point of contention since the United Kingdom's decision to withdraw from the EU in Wednesday's agreement, arrivals at Gibraltar Airport will present their passports to both Gibraltarian and Spanish border British Foreign Office stated that this system mirrors the model used by French police at London's St. Pancras station, the terminus for the Eurostar service connecting Britain with mainland Europe. "We have reached an agreement which protects British sovereignty, supports Gibraltar's economy and allows businesses to plan for the long-term once again," British Foreign Minister David Lammy said.
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Argentina's embassy to move to Jerusalem in 2026, President says
Javier Milei, who made the announcement in the Knesset, has been supportive of Israel amid the war in Gaza and votes in its favour at the UN
Middle East Eye
2 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
US warns countries not to join French, Saudi UN conference on Palestine: Report
The US is lobbying foreign governments not to attend a UN conference next week sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a US diplomatic cable reported by Reuters. The cable, sent to countries on Tuesday, warns them against taking "anti-Israel actions" and says attending the conference would be viewed by Washington as acting against US foreign policy interests. France, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is a US ally in Nato. Saudi Arabia is one of the US's closest Middle East partners. US President Donald Trump was feted during a May visit to Riyadh, where Saudi Arabia signed billions of dollars of investment deals with the US. France and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting the gathering between 17 and 20 June in New York. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "We are urging governments not to participate in the conference, which we view as counterproductive to ongoing, life-saving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages," the cable says, according to Reuters. "The United States opposes any steps that would unilaterally recognise a conjectural Palestinian state, which adds significant legal and political obstacles to the eventual resolution of the conflict and could coerce Israel during a war, thereby supporting its enemies,' it added. France had been lobbying the UK and other European allies to recognise a Palestinian state at the conference. However, Middle East Eye reported in June that the US has warned Britain and France against recognising a Palestinian state at the conference. At the same time, Arab states have been urging them to proceed with the move, sources told MEE. In late May, United Nations member states held consultations in preparation for the conference, during which the Arab Group urged states to recognise Palestinian statehood. The Arab Group said they would measure the success of the conference by whether significant states recognise Palestine, sources in the UK Foreign Office told MEE. Since the 1950s, successive American administrations have stated that their ultimate goal in ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a two-state solution. Many experts and diplomats have earmarked occupied East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza, which Israel seized from Egypt and Jordan in the 1967 war, as the heartland of a future Palestinian state. But US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Bloomberg News on Tuesday that a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank was no longer a US policy goal. He said Israel's 'Muslim neighbours' could give up their land to create one. According to the cable, the US said that "unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state would effectively render Oct. 7 Palestinian Independence Day'. Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people. Israel responded by launching a devastating assault on Gaza that has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, and reduced the enclave to rubble. The US cable also said Washington was working with Egypt and Qatar to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and free the captives there. "This conference undermines these delicate negotiations and emboldens Hamas at a time when the terrorist group has rejected proposals by the negotiators that Israel has accepted,' it said. The Trump administration pushed Israel to agree to a three-phase ceasefire with Hamas in January. Israel broke that agreement by refusing to begin talks on ending the war permanently and unilaterally resumed attacking Gaza.
