Cohen was at the helm of Mossad (Israel's foreign intelligence agency) from 2016 to 2021. The Gambia's Bensouda served as ICC prosecutor from 2012 to 2021. In 2021, she launched the formal probe into war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Israel in occupied Palestinian territories.
Cohen reportedly was involved in a plot, authorized by the Israeli government, where he was supposed to hold multiple secret meetings with Bensouda and dissuade her from launching the official probe against Israel. Joseph Kabila, a former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, purportedly had a supporting role and setting up Cohen's meeting with Bensouda in New York in 2018.
The ex-prosecutor informed a small group of ICC officials that the former Mossad head attempted to influence and intimidate her, four sources were cited as saying. Cohen's tactics allegedly evolved from attempts to charm Bensouda to "threats and manipulation," including addressed against members of her family. Two sources were cited as saying that the Mossad chief showed Bensouda photos and transcripts of secret recordings of her husband, apparently meant as a tool for discrediting the ICC official.
Israeli authorities rejected the information as false, while Bensouda declined to comment, the newspaper said.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan's announcement last week that he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials is widely seen as the culmination of his predecessor Bensouda's probe.