Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States will impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the Israel-hating United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian rights.
A controversial figure, the Italian human rights lawyer has accused Israel of being an apartheid state that is committing “genocide” in Gaza and has called for legal consequences against US-based companies for “aiding and abetting” alleged crimes by supplying defense technology to the Jewish nation.
Albanese has also pushed for U.S. and Israeli officials to be hauled before the International Criminal Court (ICC) without the consent of the two countries and said that Hamas violence against Israel was “not surprising.”
“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated,” Rubio said in a Wednesday post to X. “We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense.”
Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt @IntlCrimCourt action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives.
Albanese’s campaign of political and economic…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) July 9, 2025
“The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare and protect our sovereignty and that of our allies,” the nation’s top diplomat added.
Albanese has recommended that the ICC issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is visiting Washington, D.C. this week.
“The United States has repeatedly condemned and objected to the biased and malicious activities of Albanese that have long made her unfit for service as a Special Rapporteur. Albanese has spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West,” Rubio said in a statement.
“That bias has been apparent across the span of her career, including recommending that the ICC, without a legitimate basis, issue arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant,” he added.
“She has recently escalated this effort by writing threatening letters to dozens of entities worldwide, including major American companies across finance, technology, defense, energy, and hospitality, making extreme and unfounded accusations and recommending the ICC pursue investigations and prosecutions of these companies and their executives,” Rubio continued. “We will not tolerate these campaigns of political and economic warfare, which threaten our national interests and sovereignty.”
“A clear message. Time for the UN to pay attention!” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said, reacting to Rubio’s announcement.
Watchdogs cheered the sanctions against Albanese.
“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,” President of Human Rights Voices and Director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust Anne Bayefsky told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“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,” she added.
“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,” UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“She will never again spread her poison on American campuses or enter the country. Justice is served. Good triumphs over evil,” Neuer added.
“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 said in his statement.
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Author: Chris Donaldson
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