The UN has added Israel to its blacklist of countries whose forces commit sexual violence in conflict zones, prompting condemnation from the Jewish state’s ambassador to the global body.
The move, which has been in the potential pipeline since UN Secretary General António Guterres announced last year that he was “gravely concerned” by reports of sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees allegedly occurring in Israeli prisons and put Jerusalem “on notice”. Israel has consistently denied allegations of institutional sexual abuse in its detention facilities.
Guterres said at the time that there were “significant concerns of patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the UN”.
Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon condemned the move on X, writing: “The UN has added Israel to the blacklist of sexual violence in conflict zones, alongside the world's most brutal terrorist organisations - Hamas and ISIS.
“This is a political decision! Disconnected from the facts and reality! Israel submitted evidence, documents, and detailed responses to every claim.
“We invited UN representatives to come to the field and examine things up close, and they, of course, chose not to do so.
“When facts don't fit the narrative, at the UN, they simply change the narrative.”
And Hillel Neuer, the director of watchdog UN Watch, told the JC: “The UN has once again descended into moral bankruptcy by placing Israel on this blacklist, alongside Hamas, the very terrorists who systematically raped, mutilated, and sexually tortured Israeli women, men, and children on October 7, and thereafter against the hostages in Gaza.
“Israel provided the UN with extensive documentation disproving the accusation.
“This decision strips the UN of any remaining credibility and reveals the extent to which it has been captured by those who hate Israel more than they hate rape as a weapon of war.”
Neuer also called Israel’s inclusion a “blood libel,” adding: “The world should treat this blacklist with the contempt it deserves. Democracies must stop subsidising this institutionalised antisemitism. History will record this as another shameful chapter in the UN's long war against the Jewish state.”
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