The famous actor George Clooney contacted a senior aide to Biden last month to complain about Washington's criticism of the international court that issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant. This case involves his wife, the British-Lebanese lawyer Amal Clooney. The Oscar-winning actor expressed particular distress during his call with Steve Ricchetti, a Biden advisor, regarding the administration's intention to impose sanctions on the court, fearing it could affect his wife, according to the Washington Post.
Clooney's anger comes a week before his anticipated appearance at a fundraising event for Biden on June 15 in Los Angeles. Notably, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced on May 20 that he was seeking to charge Netanyahu, Galant, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and two other senior leaders of the movement with war crimes and crimes against humanity, issuing arrest warrants against them. Khan reached this conclusion after consulting a committee of senior legal experts, including Clooney’s wife, a human rights lawyer.
Meanwhile, Biden condemned the court's decision, describing the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Galant as disgraceful. Many U.S. lawmakers also condemned this decision, with 42 members from both Democratic and Republican parties in the House of Representatives voting for a bill to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court. Republicans in the Senate are pressuring Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, to present the bill for a vote in the Senate.
