Israel questions impartiality of newly elected ICJ judges

The United Nations elected five judges to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday, prompting Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon to question the impartiality of several who have been involved in legal proceedings concerning Israel.

The judges – Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan, Dapo Akande of the United Kingdom, François Alabrune of France, Phoebe Okowa of Kenya and Rena Lee of Singapore – will serve nine-year terms beginning Feb. 6, 2027, and ending Feb. 5, 2036.

Two of the judges, Hmoud and Okowa, already serve on the court after being elected to fill vacancies in 2025.

"Their résumés are troubling and raise questions. Will a judge who, a month after the October 7 massacre, wrongly declared that Israel was committing genocide be able to handle the case against it impartially?" Danon stated.

Will a judge who served as legal counsel in a case against us administer justice professionally and without bias? The election in the General Assembly is yet another example of the UN's inherent bias against the State of Israel," he continued.

The judge drawing the most criticism from Israel is Jordanian jurist Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud, a former Jordanian ambassador to the UN who has served on the ICJ since May 2025. He also chaired the UN International Law Commission in 2021.

Before joining the court, Hmoud represented Jordan's positions in international legal proceedings concerning Israel, including cases involving the security barrier and the legal status of Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and East Jerusalem.

In October 2023, just weeks after the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, Hmoud addressed the UN Security Council and accused Israel of committing "war crimes" and "ethnic cleansing" during its military campaign in Gaza.

His previous statements and legal work have prompted questions from Israeli officials about his ability to participate impartially in cases involving Israel.

Another newly elected judge with previous involvement in legal proceedings concerning Israel is Dapo Akande, a professor of international law at the University of Oxford and a member of the UN International Law Commission.

Akande served as legal counsel for Japan in proceedings before the ICJ concerning the legal consequences of Israeli policies and activities in Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem. Those proceedings resulted in the court's July 2024 advisory opinion on Israel's presence in the Palestinian territories.

Kenyan judge Phoebe Okowa, who has served on the ICJ since November 2025, also participated in those proceedings. A professor of international law at Queen Mary University of London, Okowa served as legal counsel for Namibia, which presented its position before the court in February 2024.

The 2024 proceedings were separate from South Africa's ongoing genocide case against Israel. The ICJ issued an advisory opinion in July 2024 concerning the legal consequences of Israel's policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.

The two remaining judges have extensive backgrounds in international law and diplomacy.

François Alabrune currently serves as France's ambassador to the Netherlands and previously worked as a legal adviser to the French Foreign Ministry. He has represented France in proceedings before international courts, including cases involving the Genocide Convention concerning Ukraine and Russia, as well as Gambia and Myanmar.

Rena Lee serves as Singapore's ambassador for international law, with experience in multilateral negotiations, international arbitration and maritime law. She previously served as chief executive of Singapore's Intellectual Property Office and chaired negotiations that led to a UN agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in international waters.

The latest appointments follow the election of Lebanese jurist Nawaf Salam as president of the ICJ in February 2024. Salam, who served on the court from 2018 until January 2025, when he resigned to become Lebanon's prime minister, has previously made statements critical of Israel.

In 2015, Salam rejected accusations that criticism of Israel was necessarily antisemitic, writing: “Portraying the critics of Israel’s policies as antisemites is an attempt to intimidate and discredit them, which we reject.”

Salam has also accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza. He has denied that his criticism of Israeli government policies reflects hostility toward the Jewish people.