Amal Clooney, the human rights lawyer married to Hollywood star George Clooney, played a role in preparing the request for arrest warrants of Israeli leaders Monday by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The ICC issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as for three Hamas terrorist leaders, leading to widespread indignation in Israel and the U.S.
ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan specifically thanked Amal Clooney for her assistance in preparing the warrant request:
As an additional safeguard, I have also been grateful for the advice of a panel of experts in international law, an impartial group I convened to support the evidence review and legal analysis in relation to these arrest warrant applications. The Panel is composed of experts of immense standing in international humanitarian law and international criminal law, including Sir Adrian Fulford PC, former Lord Justice of Appeal and former International Criminal Court Judge; Baroness Helena Kennedy KC, President of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute; Elizabeth Wilmshurst CMG KC, former Deputy Legal Adviser at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Danny Friedman KC; and two of my Special Advisers – Amal Clooney and His Excellency Judge Theodor Meron CMG. This independent expert analysis has supported and strengthened the applications filed today by my Office.
The New York Times noted: “On Monday, [Amal Clooney] said in a statement that she was a member of an eight-person panel of legal and academic experts convened in January by the International Criminal Court at the request of its prosecutor, Karim Khan, to review his investigation into possible crimes committed in the conflict.”
Netanyahu condemned the ICC prosecution as a new form of antisemitism, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog called it “beyond outrageous, and shows the extent to which the international judicial system is in danger of collapsing.”
