Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for Palestinian rights who has a long history of antisemitic statements, penned a May 6 letter to Dani Naveh, president and CEO of the New York-based Development Corporation for Israel, known as Israel Bonds, threatening to go public with claims that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that the debt underwriter is aiding and abetting crimes against humanity.
In the letter to the former Knesset member, in which Albanese addressed him as “Naveh Dani,” the U.N. adviser wrote that she is “currently preparing my annual report to the U.N. Human Rights Council on the matter of the private sector’s involvement in Israel’s occupation, in the context of the genocidal violence unfolding in the occupied Palestinian territory.” (JNS has viewed the letter, which was marked “confidential.”)
Albanese, whom the United Nations views as an independent “expert,” alleges in the letter that the Friends of the Israeli Defence Forces, the Jewish National Fund and “charities set up to support illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank,” Judea and Samaria, “directly perpetrate crimes against the Palestinian people.
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that DCI is contributing to gross human rights violations that require the immediate cessation of the concerned business activity, and the remedy of the harm done to Palestinians,” Albanese wrote.
The Human Rights Council session, for which Albanese said she is preparing the report, is scheduled to begin on June 16. One of the sources that the U.N. adviser cites to bolster her claims in the letter is a 2024, non-legally binding advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial arm of the United Nations. She also refers to the arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, by the International Criminal Court, which is an independent body in The Hague, which has long been accused of Jew-hatred. (JNS sought comment from Albanese.)
“I would welcome any information or clarifications you may have on this by 11:00 a.m. Central European Time on June 5,” she wrote.
Israel Bonds told JNS that Naveh did not respond to Albanese.
“Israel Bonds is an American broker-dealer that sells bonds to support the Jewish homeland—America’s strongest ally in the Middle East,” Naveh told JNS. “We will not be deterred by our enemies driven by antisemitism.”
The Israel Bonds head said that Hamas and its supporters “will not prevail.”
“Their efforts have failed time and time again, as evidenced by the billions of dollars Israel Bonds has raised globally since the horrific attacks,” Naveh told JNS. “Our response to their hate is clear: Buy more bonds. They support Israel’s destruction? We answer by doubling down on our investments in Israel.”
Israel Bonds announced on Friday that it has raised more than $5 billion globally for Israel since Oct. 7, “more than doubling what the organization typically raised in this time frame during the recent years prior to 2023,” it said.
“Since Oct. 7, people worldwide have asked, ‘How can I help?’” stated Dr. Andrew Hutter, a retired orthopedic surgeon and board chair of Israel Bonds. “Investing in Israel Bonds is the most direct way to put your money where your heart is and turn heartbreak into hope for the future. Israel bonds are how we will actually build Israel’s tomorrow together.”
‘Routine antisemitism’
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs and Financial Services Committees, told JNS that Albanese’s letter “again demonstrates her routine antisemitism.”
Sherman noted that Albanese’s letter states that “since October 2023, Israel Bonds have played an important role in stabilizing the Israeli economy, at a time when tax revenue decreased and government debt to GDP ratio returned to COVID-19 levels and Israel’s credit rating was downgraded.”
“Only for a demonstrated antisemite like Ms. Albanese could stabilizing Israel’s economy after the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust be something negative,” the congressman told JNS.
The U.N. adviser “and her ilk have turned once-legitimate entities like the United Nations into kangaroo courts and clown shows, significantly undermining U.S. support for the funding of international institutions and foreign aid,” Sherman told JNS.
Albanese has also promoted “the blatant antisemitism that is allowed to fester at the United Nations,” which “undercuts not only American support for the United Nations, but also for foreign aid, and the efforts of myself and others to reverse Trump’s cuts to USAID and to promote foreign aid and funding to international organizations,” Sherman said.
“There’s a substantial amount of blood on her hands, but her victims live in countries that she doesn’t care about,” Sherman told JNS. “In fact, it seems the only thing she cares about is justifying attacks on Israel and Jews worldwide.”
The U.N. Human Rights Council recently renewed Albanese’s mandate for another three-year term, over objections from several countries, including the United States.
JNS has learned that when Leo Terrell, head of the U.S. Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and a Department of Justice adviser, called for Albanese’s removal in a May 19 letter, he was referring, in part, to her threat to Israel Bonds.