UNITED NATIONS, NY – The United States has intensified its call for the removal of Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, citing “virulent antisemitism and support for terrorism.” This demand comes as Albanese released a new report accusing Israel of a “calculated economy of genocide” and alleging complicity from major US and international corporations.
In a letter dated June 20 and addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Trump administration accused Albanese of waging “an unacceptable campaign of political and economic warfare against the American and worldwide economy.”
The letter also noted that Albanese, an Italian national, has misrepresented her qualifications, asserting she is an “international lawyer” despite not being licensed to practice law or having ever passed a bar exam.
The US Mission to the United Nations reiterated these concerns in a statement on July 1, 2025, emphasizing “grave concerns” about Albanese’s “continued activities.” The statement warns that continued failure to condemn and remove Albanese “would not only discredit the United Nations but would also require significant actions in response to Ms. Albanese’s misconduct.”
Albanese has drawn significant criticism from both the Biden and Trump administrations for her frequent accusations of genocide against Israel in Gaza. She has also stated that the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas must be viewed within a “context of decades of oppression imposed on the Palestinians,” apparently appearing to justify Islamic terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians – many of who were children deliberately targeted by Hamas terrorists.
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) has also condemned Albanese’s report, with Executive Vice President Maram Stern stating, “Ms. Albanese’s report is yet another example of her repeated misuse of her mandate to advance a political agenda rather than to uphold the universal principles of human rights.”
Pro-Israel groups, including UN Watch and NGO Monitor, have consistently accused Albanese of anti-Israel and antisemitic bias. They point to past statements where she allegedly claimed the “Jewish lobby” controls the US, repeatedly compared Israelis to Nazis, rejected antisemitic motivations for Hamas’s October 7 attack, blamed Israel for the invasion, dismissed Israeli security concerns, condemned Israel’s killing of Hamas terror chief Yahya Sinwar, and denied Israel’s right to self-defense.
In February 2024, Albanese faced widespread backlash after asserting that victims of Hamas’s October 7 attack “were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression.” At the time, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN under President Biden, posted on X that Albanese is “unfit for her role. The United Nations should not tolerate antisemitism from a UN-affiliated official hired to promote human rights.”
The US Mission to the UN’s recent statement highlights that Albanese has “escalated her years-long pattern of virulent antisemitism and unrelenting anti-Israel bias by dispatching threatening correspondence to dozens of entities worldwide, including major American corporations.” These letters, the statement explains, “advance deeply flawed legal arguments to support extreme and unfounded accusations that these organizations are complicit in gross human rights violations, apartheid, and genocide.” The US views these letters as an “unacceptable campaign of political and economic warfare against the American and worldwide economy.”
The United States had previously “strongly opposed the renewal of Ms. Albanese’s appointment earlier this year,” warning the Secretary-General that it “would demonstrate a disregard for the code of conduct for Special Rapporteurs and bring further disgrace to the United Nations.” The US reiterates its request for the Secretary-General to “directly condemn Ms. Albanese’s activities and call for her removal as Special Rapporteur,” noting that the “lack of such action to date has enabled Ms. Albanese to pursue her campaign of economic warfare targeting entities across the world.”
