The Trump administration is urging the United Nations to remove Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories, citing a pattern of what officials describe as legally unsound, inflammatory, and antisemitic conduct.
The escalating diplomatic confrontation—reported by The Algemeiner on Tuesday—reflects deepening tensions between Washington and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), particularly over longstanding concerns of institutional bias against Israel.
In a formal diplomatic letter sent to UN leadership, acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea issued a direct appeal to Secretary-General António Guterres, accusing Albanese of crossing ethical and legal boundaries in her role. The letter, reviewed by The Algemeiner, charges Albanese with misusing her UN platform to wage a campaign of economic and political warfare against Israel, and by extension, against U.S. and international companies engaged in legal commerce with the Jewish state.
Albanese, an Italian academic appointed in 2022 and reappointed this year to a second term, has garnered sharp criticism for what The Algemeiner report described as an increasingly activist interpretation of her mandate. The most recent catalyst for U.S. action came in the form of letters Albanese sent to dozens of corporations, some of them U.S. government contractors, warning that their business dealings with Israel might constitute “complicity in genocide,” “apartheid,” and other grave breaches of international law.
“These communications are not only built on false legal premises,” Ambassador Shea wrote, “but also inject dangerous rhetoric that undermines international legal standards and commercial stability.” The Trump administration argued that such conduct endangers not only Israel but global norms governing commerce, diplomacy, and the rule of law.
U.S. officials further contend that Albanese’s threats to corporations are part of an upcoming UN report alleging Israel operates an “economy of genocide,” supported by a web of foreign companies. This term, used by Albanese to describe Israel’s defense, trade, and supply networks, has been roundly rejected by the U.S. as “legally baseless,” according to the information provided in The Algemeiner report. The report has not yet been published but is expected to be submitted to the UNHRC later this year.
Beyond policy, the U.S. is also challenging Albanese’s personal qualifications, raising the previously unexamined issue of her legal credentials. According to the State Department, Albanese has never passed a bar exam or been licensed to practice law, despite routinely referring to herself as an “international lawyer.” This detail, U.S. diplomats argue, undermines the legitimacy of her legal opinions and should disqualify her from receiving diplomatic immunities typically conferred on UN special rapporteurs.
As The Algemeiner report highlighted, this critique is not merely bureaucratic. “If Albanese is not a qualified attorney, her legal threats to multinational corporations and government-linked entities may not only be void but reckless,” said one legal scholar cited by the outlet. “It casts doubt on the entire foundation of her reports.”
The UN, for its part, has remained largely hands-off. A spokesperson for Secretary-General Guterres told the Washington Free Beacon—in reporting echoed in The Algemeiner—that the Secretary-General’s office has “no authority” over the special rapporteurs, who operate independently and report directly to the Human Rights Council. Press representatives for the UNHRC declined to comment on the matter, a silence that has only fueled criticism from Israel and its allies.
This hands-off posture, however, is emblematic of a broader concern long documented by The Algemeiner: that the Human Rights Council provides disproportionate scrutiny of Israel, while shielding its own appointees from oversight and accountability. Israel has been the subject of more resolutions than any other country in the Council’s history—a trend that many see as reflective of institutional bias.
Albanese’s critics argue that her actions go far beyond legal overreach. She has been widely condemned for making antisemitic comparisons, including likening Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler—an assertion that drew swift bipartisan denunciation in Washington. The Algemeiner report noted that Albanese has also been accused of rationalizing or minimizing the October 7 Hamas terror attacks, a move that further alienated even moderate observers of the conflict.
The Trump administration previously called for a wholesale reassessment of U.S. engagement with the UNHRC over its clear cut anti-Israel bias.
However, the effort to censure or remove Albanese is quickly gaining bipartisan support. Congressional lawmakers across party lines have expressed frustration at what they perceive to be Albanese’s exploitation of her mandate for ideological purposes. Several key senators are reportedly preparing legislation that would withhold U.S. contributions to the Human Rights Council unless reforms are enacted to ensure impartiality and oversight.
At the heart of the controversy is a broader debate about the role of international law, the ethics of public office, and the boundaries of political advocacy. In attempting to galvanize action against Israel through corporate threats, critics argue, Albanese may have undermined the credibility of the very human rights system she claims to uphold.
As The Algemeiner report observed, this is more than a personnel dispute—it is a flashpoint in a decades-long struggle over how international institutions treat the world’s only Jewish state. Whether the UNHRC will act on the Biden administration’s request remains unclear. But one thing is certain: Francesca Albanese’s continued tenure is now at the center of a geopolitical reckoning—one that will shape not only the future of U.S.-UN relations, but the moral standing of the human rights system itself.
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