France demands resignation of UN official Francesca Albanese over antisemitism allegations

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said during a parliamentary meeting this week that Paris will demand the resignation of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese at the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council session on Feb. 23.

Albanese has drawn international criticism for her anti-Israel and antisemitic remarks, particularly in the aftermath of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023.

The French government has frequently criticized Israel’s military operations against the terrorist militia Hamas in Gaza. However, Barrot argued that Albanese’s controversial comments “target not the Israeli government, whose policies can be criticized, but Israel as a people and as a nation, which is absolutely unacceptable.”

He also stressed that Albanese’s inflammatory comments "add to a long list of scandalous positions, justifying October 7, the worst antisemitic massacre in our history since the Holocaust, mentioning the ‘Jewish Lobby’ and comparing Israel to the Third Reich.”

“She presents herself as a UN independent expert, yet she is neither an expert nor independent – she is a political activist who stirs up hate speech and undermines the cause of the Palestinian people that she claims to defend,” the French foreign minister stated.

Albanese has denied that Hamas was driven by Jew-hatred when it perpetrated the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust on Oct. 7, 2023. 

Albanese recently called Israel the “common enemy” of humanity at an Al Jazeera forum, where she appeared alongside a senior Hamas member and the foreign minister of Iran. She also accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza while not addressing Hamas’ attacks on Jewish civilians. Albanese added that the international community “now has a common enemy … And the respect for fundamental freedoms is the last peaceful avenue, the last peaceful toolbox that we have to gain our freedom.”

French lawmaker Caroline Yadan announced on Thursday on 𝕏 that fifty members of the French parliament, including herself, had called on Albanese’s immediate resignation in a letter addressed to the French foreign minister.

“By recently describing Israel as an ‘enemy of humanity,’ she has crossed an additional threshold, fitting into rhetoric that constitutes contemporary forms of antisemitism,” Yadan stated.

“This situation cannot continue,” the French lawmaker continued. “France must work to ensure that sanctions are imposed and that Francesca Albanese is immediately removed from any United Nations mandate.”

Shannon Seban, Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) Director of European Affairs also demanded Albanese’s immediate resignation from her UN post. 

“To declare the world’s only Jewish state a ‘common enemy of humanity’ is not human rights advocacy,” Seban stated in a letter to the UN Human Rights Council. 

“It is the language of collective demonization, and it echoes some of the darkest chapters in modern history,” Seban warned, likely referring to the demonization of Jews that preceded the Holocaust and other massacres of Jews throughout history. 

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid also condemned Albanese on Thursday, describing her as "an extremist antisemitic envoy working in the service of an organization that has lost its moral core." Lapid who is a former Israeli prime minister, warned that if the UN does not "fire her immediately, it is an explicit endorsement of antisemitism, and proof that it is time to dismantle the organization."

The World Jewish Congress (WJC) condemned Albanese in 2024 for falsely comparing Israel with Nazi Germany. 

“The constant statements made by [Albanese] comparing Israel to Nazi Germany are not only deeply offensive, but a gross distortion of history,” the WJC stated.

In 2025, the U.S. Mission to the UN condemned Albanese’s antisemitism and called on the UN to not renew her mandate. 

“Today, the US sent SG@antonioguterres a letter opposing Francesca Albanese’s renewal as UN Special Rapporteur. We condemn her virulent antisemitism, which demonizes Israel and supports Hamas,” the U.S. mission stated. 

However, the UN has so far ignored all the fact-based criticism and decided to renew Albanese’s mandate.