Oscar-winning actor George Clooney called one of President Biden’s top advisers last month to complain about the president’s criticism of the International Criminal Court’s action against Israeli leaders, a case his wife, Amal, worked on. Clooney, according to three people familiar with the matter. conversation.
Clooney called Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, to express concern about Biden’s denunciation of the arrest warrants sought by ICC prosecutors for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, especially their use of the word “scandalous”. Prosecutors also sought injunctions for top Hamas leaders.
The actor was also upset by the administration’s initial openness to imposing sanctions on the ICC because his wife could be subject to the sanctions, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation.
Clooney’s call came just weeks before his appearance at a fundraising event for Biden’s re-election campaign next Saturday in Los Angeles. Their concerns spread throughout Biden’s orbit, leaving some officials concerned that the high-profile actor would pull out of participating in the big fundraiser, which will also feature former President Barack Obama, late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel and actress Julia Roberts.
For weeks, Biden’s reelection campaign has been hosting a fundraising contest for his supporters to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles to meet Obama, Clooney and Roberts at the event. Clooney still plans to attend the fundraiser, the people said.
Biden’s campaign disputed the idea that there were serious concerns that Clooney would abandon fundraising. Clooney, through a representative, declined to comment, as did the White House.
Clooney has long supported Democratic candidates and causes. In 2020, she donated more than $500,000 to Biden’s campaign effort and co-hosted a virtual fundraiser for him that raised $7 million.
Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, announced on May 20 that he was seeking to charge Netanyahu, Gallant, Hamas leader Yehiya Sinwar, and two other senior Hamas leaders with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
After Khan made the announcement, Amal Clooney, an international human rights lawyer, said in a statement that prosecutors had hired her to help with the investigation, asking her to review evidence of alleged war crimes and provide legal analysis. The statement, which was released by the Clooney Foundation for Justice, a human rights organization she founded with her husband, said the team’s legal conclusions were “unanimous.”
“I do not accept that any conflict is outside the reach of the law, nor that any perpetrator should be above the law,” Amal Clooney wrote in a statement. “That is why I support the historic step taken by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to bring justice to the victims of atrocities in Israel and Palestine.”
But Biden, along with other top Democratic and Republican leaders, criticized the move, saying it suggested a false symmetry between Israel, a country responding to a brutal terrorist attack, and Hamas, whose goal is the eradication of Israel. His administration initially signaled a willingness to work with Congress to punish the ICC, including potentially imposing sanctions on the organization.
“The ICC prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,” Biden said in a statement. “And let me be clear: regardless of what this prosecutor may imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. “We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
The White House later said sanctions against the ICC “were not the right answer,” while saying it would work with Congress on other avenues to address the ICC’s “overreach.”
Administration officials downplayed the idea that they had considered sanctions. “Our position has been consistent and, as always, based on the best interests of the United States and no other factors,” National Security Council spokesman Eduardo Maia Silva said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the House passed legislation that would impose sanctions on the ICC. The Biden administration said in a statement that it “strongly opposes” the measure because it “could require sanctions against court staff, judges, witnesses, and U.S. allies and partners who provide support, even limited and targeted, to the court in a variety of aspects of their work. work.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who invited Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress, criticized Biden and other Democrats for opposing sanctions.
“It is alarming that the Biden administration continues to undermine Israel and now, 155 House Democrats have voted to give the ICC a free hand to attack our allies and undermine US national security interests,” Johnson said.
Biden officials said they are willing to work with Congress on an alternative response, but declined to provide additional details.
The nation and the world have been embroiled in a heated debate over how to respond to the military campaign launched by Israel after Hamas militants crossed the Gaza border on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking approximately 250 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory invasion of Gaza, which it says aims to eliminate Hamas, has led to more than 36,000 Palestinian deaths and a humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
Throughout the military campaign, Biden has staunchly supported Israel, emphasizing its right to defend itself and continuing to provide military aid to its campaign.
The president has become increasingly critical of Netanyahu’s government, especially for not allowing more aid to reach Gaza and for an airstrike that killed seven World Central kitchen workers in April. But his broader support for him and his reluctance to impose conditions on US military aid to Israel have deeply divided the Democratic Party, threatening the fragile coalition that helped elect him in 2020.
Democrats fear that young voters and communities of color, in particular, may not support the president at levels similar to four years ago, when Biden narrowly defeated Donald Trump.
In recent days, Biden has pressed Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would free many of the remaining hostages and provide a path to a permanent end to the war.
Biden’s campaign fundraiser in Los Angeles with Obama and Clooney follows an April event where Biden appeared with Obama and former President Bill Clinton in New York City. The campaign said it had raised more than $26 million from the event, touting it as the most successful fundraising event for a Democratic candidate in history.
As of late April, Biden still had a financial lead over Trump, with his fundraising entities reporting $146 million in cash on hand compared to $88 million for Trump and the Republican Party.
But Trump outraised Biden in April, and has seen a cash windfall since a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in his hush money trial. Trump’s campaign said he raised $53 million online in the 24 hours after the verdict.
In 2023, Biden appointed Clooney to the Presidential Committee on the Arts and Humanities, which advises the president on cultural policy. Clooney visited the White House in December 2022 when she received the Kennedy Center Honors.
At that event, Biden made a joking reference to Clooney’s wife, as he often does when introducing prominent men in public spaces.
“We see Amal Clooney’s husband,” Biden said, adding, “George is one of the most celebrated actors, directors, producers and screenwriters of our time.”
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