The Foreign Minister and Interior Minister issued a joint statement, announcing that Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, is now barred from entering Israel, following her statement that the October 7 was driven by oppression, not antisemitism.
Albanese's original comment was directed at France, which declared October 7 to be an antisemitic attack. She commented on X/Twitter that the attack was due to oppression of the Palestinians, not the Jewishness of the victims. While Albanese later tried to clarify her comments, she did not disavow her diagnosis of the motive for October 7.
As a result, Albanese is now barred from the country and cannot receive a visa to enter.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Interior Minister Moshe Arbel said that: "The era when Jews remain silent is over. If the UN wants to go back to being a relevant body, its leaders must publicly disavow the antisemitic words of the 'special rapporteur' - and fire her immediately."
Relations between Israel and the UN have been sour since the increasing discovery of the connections between the aid agency UNRWA and Hamas terror operations, including employees with terror ties, terror tunnels underneath UNRWA buildings, and evidence of UNRWA materials used for terror purposes.
