‘Troubling résumés’: Meet the newly elected judges at The Hague and their ties to Israel

The UN General Assembly and Security Council elected five judges to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Tuesday: Dapo Akande of the United Kingdom, François Alabrune of France, Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan, Phoebe Okowa of Kenya and Rena Lee of Singapore. Their nine-year terms will begin in 2027 and end in 2036. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, expressed concern over the election of some of the judges, citing their previous involvement in proceedings against Israel.

Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud: A sitting judge at the International Court of Justice since May 2025 and a former Jordanian ambassador to the UN. He previously served as legal adviser to Jordan's Foreign Ministry and as a member of the UN International Law Commission, which he chaired in 2021. He took an adversarial position toward Israel on Jordan's behalf in proceedings before the International Court of Justice, including the 2004 advisory opinion on Israel's West Bank separation barrier and the 2024 advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israeli policies and practices in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

On October 30, 2023, less than a month after the October 7 terrorist attack, Hmoud accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" and "war crimes" during a UN Security Council meeting. Dapo Akande: A professor of international law at the University of Oxford and a member of the UN International Law Commission (ILC). Throughout his career, he has represented and advised countries in international legal proceedings, including before the International Court of Justice.

Among other roles, he served as legal counsel for Japan in proceedings concerning the legal consequences of Israeli activities in the West Bank. François Alabrune: A senior diplomat and legal expert who serves as France's ambassador to the Netherlands and its permanent representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. He previously served as legal adviser to the French Foreign Ministry and represented France in proceedings before international courts.

Among other cases, he served as France's legal representative in proceedings involving the Genocide Convention, including cases brought by Ukraine against Russia and The Gambia against Myanmar. Rena Lee: Singapore's ambassador for international law, with experience in maritime law, international arbitration and multilateral negotiations. From 2018 to 2023, she chaired the UN conference that negotiated the international agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

She previously served as chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and as a senior legal adviser in the country's Attorney-General's Chambers. Phoebe N. Okowa: A sitting judge at the International Court of Justice since November 2025, who has now been elected to a full nine-year term. She is a professor of international law at Queen Mary University of London and previously served as a member of the UN International Law Commission.

Throughout her career, she has represented and advised countries in proceedings before the International Court of Justice. Among other roles, she served as legal counsel for Namibia in proceedings that led to the court's 2024 advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israeli policies and practices in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. She has also worked on international legal proceedings involving climate change and human rights.

Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, criticized the election of the judges: "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? 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."

The International Court of Justice, based in The Hague, is the principal judicial organ of the UN. It is authorized to hear legal disputes between states and issue advisory opinions on questions of international law referred to it by authorized UN bodies. The court consists of 15 judges, elected to nine-year terms through separate votes in the UN General Assembly and Security Council. In December 2023, South Africa initiated proceedings against Israel at the ICJ, alleging violations of the Genocide Convention in the Gaza Strip.

The court issued provisional measures in 2024, and the case remains ongoing.