The Biden campaign has a tricky situation coming up next month.
An all star event hosted by Jimmy Kimmel in Los Angeles set for June 15th is supposed to feature George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Kimmel will moderate a conversation between Biden and Barack Obama. Tickets start at $250 per person ranging up to $500,000 for an “event chair” tier. Proceeds go to the Biden Victory Fund.
But now Clooney’s wife, Amal Alamuddin, a Lebanese born British barrister, has wound up in the cross hairs of Biden. As a member of the International Criminal Court today she called the leaders of Hamas as war criminals and asked for warrant of arrest, which was fine. But then she threw in Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu.
Biden responded this afternoon with remarks aimed at Amal’s work. “The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,” Biden said in the statement. “And let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
Alamuddin wrote about her participation in the ICC today on her website. She wrote: “More than four months ago, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court asked me to assist him with evaluating evidence of suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and Gaza. I agreed and joined a panel of international legal experts to undertake this task. Together we have engaged in an extensive process of evidence review and legal analysis including at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. “
You can further read the op ed item she signed in the Financial Times today.
Alamuddin has long been an international advocate for refugees. But her stand on Israel will now put her in direct opposition to Biden.
The report today from the ICC doesn’t just accuse Netanyahu of war crimes. It includes the three leaders of Hamas — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — for committing “war crimes and crimes against humanity for the killing of hundreds of civilians, the taking of at least 245 hostages and acts of sexual violence committed against Israeli hostages.”
But Alamuddin and her group seem not to care that Hamas committed these crimes unprovoked, on innocent people attending a music festival. It also ignores the UN report of murder and sex crimes against the Israeli’s and that Hamas has refused to return the hostages for a ceasefire. She’s made the two sides equal in their fault. Biden will never agree with this.
So the Biden campaign may have to look for another celebrity for June 15th. There are plenty of pro-Israel stars who I’m sure back Biden. George Clooney may not be the right fit here.
