Israeli officials have expressed their discontent with the United Nations, accusing it of placing Israeli groups on a sexual violence blacklist that also includes the terrorist organization Hamas.
Israel’s UN Ambassador, Danny Danon, stated, “We are finished with this UN Secretary-General. Mr. Guterres has equated Israel with Hamas, ISIS, and the world’s most corrupt terrorist organizations. This is a moral disgrace, showing that Mr. Guterres has lost all credibility,” in a statement shared with digital media.
Reports confirm that the UN has added three Israeli armed security groups to a section of its annual report concerning conflict-related sexual violence.
In a letter to Danon, Guterres indicated that the Israel Defense Forces, the Israel Prison Service, and the country’s border police counter-terrorism unit have been included in an appendix to the report. He noted that this decision came after determining that these groups were “certainly suspected of committing or being responsible for a pattern of rape and other sexual violence.”
A spokesperson for Danon mentioned that Israel will officially suspend relations with Guterres’s office while he remains in his position.
Danon expressed further frustration, saying, “We are a strong democracy. We invited UN representatives to come to Israel and investigate their claims, but they chose not to. They’ve opted to continue their campaign against us. We’ve seen fabrications from major news outlets, and now it’s the UN.” He concluded with, “We are finished with this Secretary-General.”
In the same letter, Guterres elaborated on his decision. He noted an increasing number of reported incidents of sexual violence against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and Israel, attributed to the Israel Defense Forces’ counter-terrorism units, prisons, and border police. This assessment was based on UN reports detailing similar patterns over the past years.
The UN has not responded to inquiries regarding the matter.
In related news, Israeli authorities condemned an article in the New York Times, which they labeled as a defamation, after it was reported that Israeli prisons would be added to the UN list of perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict scenarios. The piece, authored by Nicholas Kristoff, alleged sexual abuse by Israeli guards against Palestinian prisoners, describing it as “standard operating procedure.”
The Israeli government has strongly rejected Kristoff’s claims, accusing him of libel and threatening legal action in the U.S. They asserted that “with an unfathomable reversal of reality, [Kristoff] turns the victim into the accused,” pointing to the serious sexual crimes committed against Israeli citizens by Hamas.
The New York Times referred to a past statement, emphasizing Kristoff’s well-researched journalism which aims to unite readers against violence, compiling testimonies that document claims of sexual abuse by Israeli security forces.
Regarding the UN blacklist, Israel’s Foreign Ministry further elaborated, stating that the country had engaged in extensive discussions with UN representatives, responding to allegations with official documents and data. Despite these efforts, Guterres chose to proceed with what they termed a politically motivated decision to add Israel alongside recognized terrorist organizations.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry characterized the UN’s action as “shameful” and indicative of a politicized organization that seeks to undermine Israel’s reputation. They expressed that the decision serves to create a false equivalency between Israel and genuine acts of sexual violence. The statement concluded by highlighting Guterres’s alleged failure in maintaining honesty and integrity, asserting that Israel would cease all ties with the Secretary-General’s office pending a change in leadership.
