Rubio Sanctions Francesca Albanese

Rubio sanctions UN official Francesca Albanese over ‘shameful efforts’ targeting US, Israel

Secretary of State Rubio imposes sanctions on controversial UN rapporteur who pushed for prosecution of American and Israeli officials

The Biden-era kid gloves are off.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the United States is imposing sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the controversial United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Palestinian rights.

"Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated," Rubio posted on X. "We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense."

Albanese has pushed to haul U.S. and Israeli officials before the International Criminal Court (ICC), drawing outrage from lawmakers, diplomats, and human rights advocates alike.

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In multiple reports and public comments since her 2022 appointment, Albanese has accused Israel of apartheid and dismissed Hamas violence as "not surprising." According to her July 2025 report to the UN Human Rights Council, Albanese claimed the U.S. may be ‘liable for the international crime of aggression’ for President Trump's strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites.

Albanese has also taken aim at American-based companies supplying defense technologies to Israel, suggesting they should face legal consequences for "aiding and abetting" alleged crimes. In a now‑deleted 2022 post, she questioned whether "the Jewish lobby" controlled U.S. foreign policy, a comment she later retracted amid criticisms that it espoused antisemitism.

"The State Department is to be congratulated for finally taking action against Albanese, her virulent and violent antisemitism and her constant attacks on the United States, American businesses and the very existence of the State of Israel," said Anne Bayefsky, President of Human Rights Voices and Director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital. 

"Albanese poses a direct threat to the well-being and security of U.S. citizens - not to mention her utter disregard for the theoretical purposes and principles of the United Nations - and as such, the United States is not obligated to admit her. President Trump's Executive Order requiring action on international actors bent on throwing American and Israeli soldiers into International Criminal Court dungeons in the Hague needs even more enforcement," Bayefsky added.

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese

"Add Navi Pillay and her diabolical UN Commission of Inquiry. There is an answer for those who would incorrectly argue that the U.S. is impotent in the face of the U.S-UN host agreement: kick the UN out of the U.S. along with Albanese and her UN partners in crime," the statement concluded.

Israeli leaders quickly backed Rubio’s move. "A clear message. Time for the UN to pay attention!" Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar posted in response.

The UN Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon also weighed in to the Jerusalem Post: "Albanese consistently undermines the credibility of the UN by promoting false and dangerous narratives… We will not remain silent."

Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch, weighed in with a statement to Fox News Digital, writing: "This is a bold and courageous move by Secretary Rubio. No UN official — in this case, a purported official, as her reappointment was illegal — has ever been sanctioned before in history. Then again, no UN official has ever been condemned for Holocaust distortion and antisemitism by France, Germany, Canada, and both Democratic and Republican US administrations."

"She will never again spread her poison on American campuses or enter the country. Justice is served. Good triumphs over evil."

"The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare, to check and prevent illegitimate ICC overreach and abuse of power, and to protect our sovereignty and that of our allies," Rubio concluded in a State Department release on the matter.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/rubio-slams-un-official-political-economic-warfare-america-israel

United Nations expert on Palestine Francesca Albanese (pictued) has said she doesn't blame Hamas for the conflict in Gaza and compared it to her children misbehaving

Ms Albanese admitted the surprise October 7 Hamas attack on Israel was a 'war crime ' after it killed 1200 Israelis and foreign nationals, and injured 5000 more. A hostage is pictured being captured and taken away by Hamas

Francesca Albanese said Israel's military reaction to the attack was based on a 'non-existent right to self-defence'

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim slammed the UN legal expert's claim Israel had no right to defend itself under international law

When asked if she blamed Hamas for increasing the death toll by militarising civilian areas, Francesca Albanese said she didn't blame anyone as 'blame was not legal language'. She said the attacks on Israel by the Palestinians were a 'natural' response to the Israeli rule. She said Israel was targeting civilians when it warned them to evacuate areas in Gaza before they came under fire

Francesca Albanese is officially banned from entering Israel