Anti-Israel Outburst From Husband of Sanctioned UN Palestinian Rights Envoy Fuels Calls for Dismissal From World Bank

Sanctioned U.N. Palestinian rights envoy Francesca Albanese appeared flustered late last month when an audience member at one of her public events stood to accuse Israel of “genocide” and the Italian government of “washing its hands of this genocide.”

But it wasn’t the content of this outburst that seemingly surprised Albanese, who is already sanctioned by the Trump administration for using her position as U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories to engage in “virulent antisemitism and support for terrorism.” Rather, it was the speaker’s identity: Massimiliano Cali, a senior World Bank Group (WBG) economist and Albanese’s husband.

New video from a late July forum at the Italian Parliament shows Cali accusing the country’s political leaders of “explicitly supporting” Israel’s supposed “genocide” against the Palestinians. The footage—obtained by the UN Watch advocacy group and shared with the Washington Free Beacon—has also fueled calls for the WBG to fire Cali over repeated anti-Semitic outbursts spanning more than a decade.

“Italians despise genocide and do not want to participate in this genocide,” Cali said at the event. “How is it that there is a complete lack of political action? How come politics decided and continues to decide every day not only to wash its hands of this genocide, but, as we’ve heard, to support it explicitly?”

UN Watch flagged this footage for the WBG in a Wednesday letter that describes Cali’s numerous anti-Israel social media posts as “gross and systematic violations of basic neutrality obligations.” The watchdog group petitioned the WBG earlier this month to fire Cali, renewing its demand this week over the new footage and Cali’s social media activity dating back a decade.

In past social media posts UN Watch provided to the WBG, Cali compared Gazans to Jews during the Holocaust and labeled Israel  a “settler-colonial, apartheid project.”

Cali deleted at least six posts in recent weeks after UN Watch first raised the issue with the WBG. But more than 70 “one-sided political posts pertaining to Israel” still remain available on Cali’s social media as of Aug. 13, according to the watchdog group.

One post, which was on Cali’s Facebook page for 10 years until being deleted last week, described Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “mass murderer” who should be charged at the International Criminal Court.

“This is not a matter of isolated past misconduct,” Hillel Neuer, UN Watch’s executive director, wrote in the letter to WBG president Ajay Banga. “Mr. Cali did not speak as a private citizen in a neutral setting, but in the Italian Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies, at a partisan conference, while his wife—a highly controversial U.N. figure who was recently sanctioned by the United States for antisemitism and economic warfare—was at the center of the proceedings.”

Cali’s accusations against Israel created the “clear appearance of a coordinated political campaign, in which a World Bank official lent institutional credibility to his wife’s partisan advocacy against a member state,” Neuer wrote.

Shortly after the event, Cali defended his remarks in an interview with the Huffington Post’s Italian-language affiliate.

“Yes, I was angry with the government,” he said. “I don’t understand why an issue that affects Italians across the board isn’t being raised with the necessary force on the political agenda. Do you know how many people, even on the right, are calling for an end to the genocide? Recognition of the State of Palestine and a willingness to suspend the E.U.-Israel Association Agreement should be the starting point for a political initiative.”

Cali’s behavior—between his previous statements and his remarks at the meeting—directly violates the WBG’s own policies regarding neutrality, according to UN Watch.

“This shows that Mr. Cali’s conduct was no accidental outburst, but a deliberate, sustained act of partisan political lobbying, in defiance of World Bank rules that forbid staff from engaging in political activities that could impair, or appear to impair, the independence and neutrality of the Bank,” Neuer wrote. “Attending a partisan event, delivering inflammatory remarks against a member state, and then reiterating them in the press, is a direct and egregious violation of this rule.”

UN Watch additionally asked the WBG to identify any “disciplinary action taken against Mr. Cali” and whether his social media activity violates the organization’s standards.

A WBG spokesman told the Free Beacon the organization takes claims of racism and discrimination seriously.

“The World Bank Group has zero tolerance for racism and discrimination in all forms, including antisemitism,” the spokesman said. “That is affirmed in our Code of Ethics. While staff members can engage in certain political activities and public statements, there are limitations coming from their status as international civil servants. In particular, our Rules provide that staff must avoid any public pronouncement that would adversely or unfavorably reflect on their status or on the integrity, independence and impartiality that are required by that status.”

The spokesman also said that violations of the group’s Code of Ethics often bring about disciplinary measures.

“When we are notified of social media posts or other public pronouncements that are potential violations, we work with staff and managers to ensure understanding of our expectations,” he told the Free Beacon. “Depending on the circumstances, any such potential violations may also constitute misconduct and may be subject to investigations and disciplinary proceedings. We are reviewing this matter, along with social media content and we will take appropriate action within our internal policies, as applicable.”

The post Anti-Israel Outburst From Husband of Sanctioned UN Palestinian Rights Envoy Fuels Calls for Dismissal From World Bank appeared first on .