Israel adamantly rejected claims Tuesday by a United Nations panel of “experts” that included noted antisemite Francesca Albanese that Israeli soldiers had committed sexual assault against Palestinian women and girls detained during the war in Gaza.
The allegations were picked up by the international media, and were seized upon by anti-Israel voices as if they balanced, or negated, the documented sexual crimes by Hamas terrorists against Israelis during and after the October 7 terror attack.
Eylon Levy, a spokesman for the Israeli government, noted Tuesday that Albanese was one of the officials making the allegations. Albanese recently justified the Hamas terror attack of October 7, and has a long history of anti-Israel and antisemitic statements.
The Israeli mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, also denied the allegations, saying that it had received no such complaints and that it abided by international law. It also noted the anti-Israel motivations of the UN officials making the claims.
Israel forcefully rejects the despicable and unfounded claims published today by a group of so-called UN experts, including one who just days ago legitimised the massacre of October 7 in which more than 1,200 people were murdered, executed and raped, and another who publicly… pic.twitter.com/aeU6fJ8rjW
— Israel in UN/Geneva | #BringThemHome (@IsraelinGeneva) February 19, 2024
There are few documented cases of Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting anyone, a fact that has led critics of the Israeli military to claim that the lack of such assaults is the result of racism against Arabs, and not adherence to a moral code or international law.
Reacting to a recent U.S. draft United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire, and opposing an Israeli attack on Hamas in Rafah, Levy said: “We have always been open, and in fact have been pushing for, a temporary pause to get the hostages out. … Our American allies stand foursquare behind our goals.” He added: “Our understanding is the U.S draft resolution reflects our position” that a temporary pause in fighting would be necessary in the context of a hostage release deal.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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