Hollywood superstar George Clooney reportedly rang up one of President Joe Biden’s top aides to complain about the president’s criticism of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) warrants against Israeli leaders — a case his wife, Amal Clooney, worked on, Washington Post has reported after talking to three people familiar with the conversation.
Clooney called Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, to blast Biden’s condemnation of arrest warrants sought by ICC prosecutors for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and especially his use of the word “outrageous” to criticise the court’s decision.
His wife, Amal Clooney, is an International Human Rights Lawyer and runs the Clooney Foundation for Justice. She said in a statement that the prosecutor’s office had enlisted her to help with the investigation, asking her to review evidence of suspected war crimes and provide legal analysis. The Clooney Foundation for Justice published the statement, which said the team’s legal findings were “unanimous.” ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced on May 20 that he was seeking to charge Netanyahu, Gallant, Hamas leader Yehiya Sinwar, and two other top Hamas leaders with war crimes.
“I do not accept that any conflict should be beyond the reach of the law, nor that any perpetrator should be above the law,” Amal Clooney wrote in the statement. “So I support the historic step that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has taken to bring justice to victims of atrocities in Israel and Palestine,” she added.
Washington Post revealed that the actor was “upset” about the administration’s initial openness to imposing sanctions on the ICC because his wife might be subjected to the penalties. Clooney has long been known for backing Democrats and is due to appear at a Biden campaign fundraiser in Los Angeles.
The concerns expressed by the actor spread throughout Biden’s campaign as some officials were worried that he would withdraw from participating in the high-profile fundraiser, which will also feature former president Barack Obama, late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel, and actress Julia Roberts.
However, both the White House and Clooney declined to comment on the matter.
In 2020, George Clooney donated more than $500,000 to Biden’s campaign effort and co-hosted a virtual fundraiser for him that raised $7 million.
