Anti-Israel U.N. investigator keeps her job despite push for removal by U.S., EU lawmakers

"Francesca Albanese, a UN investigator into Israel with a history of antisemitism and vitriol against the Jewish state, can remain in office until 2028 despite efforts by US and European lawmakers and Jewish groups to dislodge her, a session of the UN Human Rights Council confirmed on Friday.

The UNHRC did not address any of the complaints during the meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, meaning Albanese can continue in office until 2028.

Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, has been condemned by Jewish groups, Israel, the US, Canada, France, Germany and others.

Lawmakers in the US, France, the UK and the Netherlands, and leading US Jewish groups, came out against her appointment in recent weeks.

Albanese’s opponents argue her conduct should disqualify her from the position, which the UNHRC says requires impartiality, integrity and objectivity..

‘She can serve as Special Rapporteur until 30 April 2028,’ a spokesperson for the UNHRC told The Times of Israel...

There were no discussions of her position during the Friday session, and other rapporteurs were approved without any debate.

Albanese’s critics lashed the UNHRC for dismissing the complaints against her on Friday.

‘The renewal of Francesca Albanese’s mandate is a disgrace and a moral stain on the United Nations,’ said Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations. ‘Albanese is a notorious antisemite who has repeatedly expressed not only biased views against Israel, but also hateful rhetoric targeting the Jewish people as a whole.’

Anne Bayefsky, the director of New York’s Touro Institute on Human Rights and the president of the Human Rights Voices advocacy group, called on the US to cease funding to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

‘Today, the UN Human Rights Council exposed the dark side of its anti-Israel and anti-Jewish operation for the world to see,’ she said. ‘The 47 members could have removed her — consistent with the UN’s declared principles and rules — and yet not one state made a peep, including EU states like Germany.’

Albanese has said that the ’Jewish lobby’ controls the US, repeatedly compared Israelis to Nazis, rejected antisemitic motivations for Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, blamed Israel for the invasion, rejected Israeli security concerns, condemned Israel’s killing of Hamas terror chief Yahya Sinwar, and denied Israel’s right to self defense, among other inflammatory statements..."