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US Envoy to UN Criticizes Albanese, Who Compared Netanyahu and Hitler, in Sharpest Language Yet
UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese, October 27, 2022 (Photo: Screenshot)
JNS.org – Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for Palestinian rights, is “not fit for this or any other position at the UN,” Washington’s envoy to the global body said on Friday, after Albanese compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
On Wednesday, Albanese responded to a post on social media by an anti-Israel, former UN human rights administrator, Craig Mokhiber, who wrote that “history is always watching” alongside photos of crowds celebrating the Nazi leader and Israeli prime minister. The latter came during Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday.
“This is precisely what I was thinking today,” wrote Albanese, a UN “independent expert” appointed by the Human Rights Council. She has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide, including well before the current Israel-Hamas war.
On Friday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, stopped short of calling for Albanese’s termination, but wrote that “there is no place for antisemitism from UN-affiliated officials tasked with promoting human rights.”
“While the United States has never supported Francesca Albanese’s mandate, it is clear she is not fit for this or any position at the UN,” Thomas-Greenfield wrote.
Biden administration officials have been critical of Albanese in the past, but Thomas-Greenfield’s language was the sharpest yet.
Michèle Taylor, US ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council, wrote that Albanese’s “comparison of Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler is reprehensible and antisemitic. There should be no place for such dehumanizing rhetoric. Special rapporteurs should be striving to improve human rights challenges, not inflame them.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry reacted furiously to Albanese’s posting, stating that Albanese “is beyond redemption. Once again she spreads vile hatred and abuses the memory of the Holocaust.”
“It is inconceivable that Francesca Albanese is still allowed to use the UN as a shield to spread antisemitism,” it added.
“When a current UN ‘expert’ endorses Holocaust distortion spread by the former director of UN human rights in New York,” wrote the Israeli mission to the global body in Geneva, Switzerland. “No doubt possible, the system is rotten to its core. It’s high time to UNseat Albanese.”
Daniel Meron, the newly-installed Israeli ambassador to the body in Geneva, added that Albanese “abuses her UN Human Rights Council title to spread hatred and inflammatory rhetoric. The UN system should stop tolerating this and unseat Albanese.”
“The German government strongly rejects Ms. Albanese’s recent comment likening the Israeli prime minister to Hitler,” wrote Steffen Seibert, the German ambassador to Israel. “Such a comparison coming from a representative of the United Nations is unacceptable.”
Albanese has a lengthy history of antisemitic statements and has backed Hamas’s terror activities, calling Israel’s right to defend itself “non-existent.”
She is under an internal UN investigation for a lobbying and fundraising tour of Australia and New Zealand, which several pro-Hamas lobbying groups said they sponsored or helped to organize.
The investigation is currently being handled by Albanese’s own colleagues within a UN Special Procedures committee. That committee had released a statement in May absolving Albanese of wrongdoing and casting bad faith aspersions on her accusers.
After months of pressure from JNS, the UN Human Rights Office said early this month that it paid for the estimated $22,000 trip, rather than the pro-Hamas lobbying groups, though it has yet to provide any documentation to substantiate that claim.
Asked earlier this month whether US Secretary of State Antony Blinken supported a motion by UN Watch, a nonprofit, to terminate Albanese’s position, a department spokesman told JNS that “we opposed the mandate of this special rapporteur, which we believe is not productive.”
“When it comes to the individual who holds that position, we can’t help but note a history of incendiary comments online and in her public statements,” the Foggy Bottom spokesman added.
The office of UN Secretary-General António Guterres has consistently declined to comment on Albanese’s statements and actions, with his spokespeople saying that Guterres didn’t appoint Albanese and has no authority over her.
Albanese serves in a voluntary role under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, and Guterres’s office claims that due to her being among the “independent experts” in that mechanism, she is free to speak as she wants without repercussion or criticism from the secretary-general.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Melbourne Police Investigate Wave of Antisemitic Attacks, Including Synagogue Arson
Illustrative. Vandals defaced the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Australia on June 22, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – A wave of antisemitic incidents across Melbourne is under urgent investigation by Victoria Police, after a synagogue was set alight, a Jewish-owned restaurant targeted by protesters, and a third attack saw multiple cars torched at a business in the city’s northeast.
The third incident occurred around 4:30 a.m. Saturday at a business on Para Road in Greensborough. Offenders set fire to three vehicles and sprayed graffiti on both the cars and a nearby building wall. One car was destroyed, and two others sustained moderate damage.
“There were references of antisemitism in the graffiti,” Dunstan confirmed, adding that the business had previously been linked to pro-Palestinian activism.
While police say no direct link between the three incidents has been established yet, they are not ruling out the possibility of coordination.
The attacks began Friday night, when a man was seen pouring a flammable liquid on the entrance of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and setting it alight around 8 p.m., while around 20 people were inside for Shabbat services. Worshipers quickly evacuated through the back, and the fire was contained to the front of the building. No injuries were reported.
Police have released an image of a suspect believed to be in his 30s, of Caucasian appearance, with a beard and long hair.
Just hours after the synagogue arson, a protest of around 70 people moved through Swanston Street before a smaller group gathered outside Miznon, a popular Jewish-owned restaurant in the CBD, chanting offensive slogans. One man was arrested and later released on summons for hindering police.
In response to the series of attacks, federal agencies including the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) have joined the investigation.
“This is disgraceful behavior by a pack of cowards,” said Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. “Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate. Any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of antisemitism. There should be no hesitation in calling this what it is.”
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Trump Says Iran Has Not Agreed to Inspections, Give Up Enrichment
US President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not pictured), at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium.
He told reporters aboard Air Force One that he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump said he would discuss Iran with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits the White House on Monday.
“I would say it’s set back permanently,” Trump said as he traveled to New Jersey after an Independence Day celebration at the White House. “I would think they’d have to start at a different location. And if they did start, it would be a problem.”
Trump said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff deepens over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel.
The U.S. and Israel say Iran was enriching uranium to build nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has passed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tons of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg (880 pounds) enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
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