Israel Declares UN Envoy to Gaza and West Bank Persona Non Grata After Oct. 7 Comments
Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, in July
Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, who announced the decision, also demanded that the UN envoy Francesca Albanese be fired due to her statement that “the victims of the October 7 massacre were not murdered because of their Jewishness, but in response to Israeli oppression.”
The decision is largely symbolic, since she has been barred from entering the country de facto for quite some time due to the Population and Immigration Authority’s refusal to give her a visa. But now she is barred officially, meaning she would be unable to enter even if the UN gives her a diplomatic passport.
“The era in which Jews remain silent is over,” the ministers said in a joint statement. “If the UN wants to return to being a relevant body, its leaders must publicly repudiate the Special Rapporteur’s antisemitic remarks and fire her immediately. Preventing her from entering Israel might serve as a reminder of the real reason behind Hamas’ slaughter of babies, women and the elderly.”
Albanese posted the tweet that infuriated Israel in response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s statement that Hamas’ October 7 massacre in southern Israel was the worst antisemitic attack of the current century.
This is far from the first conflict between Israeli officials and Albanese, who was appointed to her post in April 2022 and has been harshly critical of Israel. Her role is to monitor Israeli violations of Palestinians’ human rights and submit reports on the issue to the UN Security Council. In her very first report, issued just months after taking office, she urged the UN to swiftly publish an updated version of its blacklist of companies with connections to the settlements.