Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli sent a harsh letter to Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Dr. Volker Türk on Friday, calling them to dismiss Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for Palestinian territories.
The reason for the demand is recent comments made by Albanese on Twitter, in which she claimed that Israel can't claim its right to defend itself against "the people it oppresses/whose lands it colonizes."
"The United Nations is failing to uphold its own commitment to protecting fundamental human rights for all and applying equal treatment of all its member states by allowing Ms. Albanese to continue to spew hatred, antisemitism and incite violence," Chikli wrote in his letter. "Her blindly one-sided anti-Israel mandate is unacceptable and clearly goes against the principles of the United Nations."
"The United Nations is failing to uphold its own commitment to protecting fundamental human rights for all and applying equal treatment of all its member states."
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli
Therefore, Chikli said, he strongly urges them "to take prompt action and terminate Ms. Albanese's position permanently. It is essential that the United Nations uphold its own principles and convey a resolute message that antisemitism and support for violence and terrorism have no place within its organization."
Chikli also referred to a statement made in 1975 by then-UN ambassador Chaim Herzog: "It is indeed fitting that the United Nations, which began its life as an anti-Nazi Alliance, should, 30 years later, find itself on its way to becoming the world center of antisemitism".
Chikli is not the first to make the demand
Earlier this week, a similar letter was sent on behalf of the International Legal Forum, a global network of lawyers and activists, aiming to combat antisemitism, advance human rights and promote peace in the Middle East, and the Solomon-Observatory on Discrimination, an Italian-based NGO combating antisemitism.
Albanese's statements were made following terror attacks last week that claimed the lives of sisters Rina and Maia and their mother Lucy Dee, as well as an Italian citizen.
Chikli specified in his letter that he is writing "to express" his "profound shock, condemnation and dismay at the recent comments made by formal UN employee and special rapporteur, Ms. Francesca Albanese. Albanese’s reprehensible, irresponsible and terror-inciting remarks made earlier this week called into question Israel's very right to defend the lives of its citizens."
He added that "Albanese’s statement is not only outrageous but also explicitly denies the right to life and personal security of many Jewish citizens of the State of Israel. Her comments contradict the basic core foundational human rights upon which the United Nations is built, setting a dangerous precedent."
The minister explained that "it is also unacceptable for a UN representative to make such a statement, even if she thinks that part of the country is disputed territory."
"Albanese's statement seems to suggest that Lucy Dee and her daughters, three innocent human beings driving on a holiday, were not deserving of the right to be protected by the State of Israel. This statement is especially troubling, as it casts a dark shadow on Albanese’s basic human compassion, and her ability to uphold the principles of the United Nations and carry out her duties as a representative on its behalf," Chikli said.
He pointed out that this isn't the first problematic statement by Albanese: "A particularly troubling example is her speech at a Hamas-sponsored conference in Gaza in November 2022, she urged her audience to 'resist'. Moreover, in recent years, Albanese has also accused the 'Jewish Lobby' of controlling United States and Europe, supported the BDS campaign against Israel, compared Israelis to the Nazis and refused to condemn Palestinian terrorism."
Chikli concluded by writing that Albanese has violated "the impartiality and objectivity requirements outlined in the UN Code of Conduct for Special Rapporteurs."