Particular rapporteur Francesca Albanese has beforehand referred to as for sanctions on Israel’s prime minister
Israel has slammed Francesca Albanese, the UN particular rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, for “anti-Semitism” after she endorsed a social media submit evaluating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
On Thursday, Albanese responded to a submit on X (previously Twitter), displaying Hitler surrounded by a cheering crowd, above a photograph of Netanyahu being greeted within the US Congress this week.
“Historical past is all the time watching,” Craig Mokhiber, a former UN human rights official, wrote within the submit. Mokhiber resigned late final October, accusing the world physique of failing to forestall the “genocide” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
“That is exactly what I used to be considering at present,” Albanese stated in response on Thursday.
Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress in Washington on Wednesday to defend Israel’s struggle in Gaza, through which greater than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed, in keeping with the Palestinian enclave’s Well being Ministry.
Israel launched its navy operation in October final yr after Palestinian militant group Hamas killed round 1,100 individuals and took 250 hostages in a shock assault on the Jewish state.
The Israeli Overseas Ministry was fast to answer the social media dialogue, slamming Albanese on X as being “past redemption” and accusing her of utilizing “the UN as a protect to unfold anti-Semitism.”
Israel’s mission to the UN in Geneva additionally hit out at Albanese, saying, “the system is rotten to its core” when “a present UN ‘skilled’ endorses Holocaust distortion” unfold by the previous UN rights workplace director.
Israel’s new ambassador in Geneva, Daniel Meron, additionally weighed in, saying Albanese “abuses” her UN title to unfold “hatred and inflammatory rhetoric.”
Albanese has confronted harsh criticism from Israel up to now, together with this March after she offered a report concluding that there have been “affordable grounds” to imagine Israel had crossed the purple line of committing “genocide” in opposition to Palestinians in Gaza. After the discharge of the report, which Israel rejected, Albanese stated she had obtained threats.
Roughly half of Home and Senate Democrats skipped Netanyahu’s Wednesday’s deal with, together with former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in keeping with an Axios headcount. Pelosi referred to as the speech the “worst” in Congress’ historical past, denouncing the Israeli chief’s lack of progress towards a ceasefire and a hostage take care of Hamas.
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