Enraged over blacklisting for sexual violence in conflict zones, Israel cuts ties with UN chief
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The UN decision to enlist Israel in the blacklist of sexual violence in conflict zones prompted Israel’s announcement of cutting the country’s ties with the UN chief, with a note that, as long as Antonio Guterres remains at the helm of the organisation, it would prefer not to maintain contact with the UN chief’s office, while the UN report suggested systematic, large-scale and horrific sexual violence perpetrated by Israel against Palestinian women, men and children, abuses that have been independently documented and verified.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, denounced the forthcoming report in a statement issued on Thursday, while accusing the UN of orchestrating what he described as a malicious and mendacious campaign aimed at vilifying Israel on the global stage.
Declaring that Israel was “done” with Guterres, Danon assailed the decision to place Israel alongside Hamas in the blacklist, arguing that such an equivalence constituted an intolerable moral distortion and an egregious political assault.
The Israeli mission to the UN subsequently announced that it would suspend all engagement with the secretary-general’s office for the duration of Guterres’s tenure, while the country’s foreign ministry intensified its rhetoric by branding the UN a “politicised and corrupt organisation” that had abandoned its foundational principles in pursuit of a systematic campaign against Israel.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for Guterres, responded in restrained terms and maintained that the secretary-general’s door remained open despite the diplomatic rupture, whereas Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, asserted that the inclusion of Israel in the blacklist was “long overdue”.
Alsalem stated that independent investigations had documented extensive sexual violence and gender-based abuses committed against Palestinians, while UN reports published last year cited credible information concerning sexual assaults and torture perpetrated by Israeli security personnel against detainees held in prisons and detention centres. UN inspectors, according to the organisation, had repeatedly been denied access to those facilities.
The already frayed relationship between Israel and the UN has deteriorated precipitously since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, a conflict during which more than 72,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed, while mounting accusations of atrocities, torture and sexual violence have deepened Israel’s confrontation with international institutions.