UN Watch urges World Bank to fire economist over genocide claims against Israel

The UN Watch, an NGO dedicated to combating bias and institutionalized hatred against Israel, has urged the World Bank to fire its senior economist, Maxillo Cali, after he accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

In a video clip from the Italian Parliament, Cali stated, “Italians abhor genocide, and Italians don’t want to take part in genocide. So how is it that politics decides, day after day, to continue this decision, not only washing its hands of this genocide, but also, as we heard, explicitly supporting it?”

In a letter addressed to World Bank President Ajay Banga, UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer warned that Cali’s hostile positions undermined the bank’s credibility.

Cali has compared Israel to Nazi Germany and described it as a “colonial apartheid settlement project.” He has also drawn parallels between children in Gaza and Jewish children in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust.

“Massimiliano Cali’s long record of antisemitic, anti-American, and pro-terror rhetoric makes a mockery of the World Bank’s own code of conduct,” Neuer said. “Keeping an apologist for terrorism on staff undermines the Bank’s credibility and damages its reputation.”

“We’re calling on the World Bank to fire him, to explain how the organization tolerated his dangerous and inflammatory posts for over a decade, and to hold his supervisors accountable – including Alexandre Arrobbio, the World Bank’s country Manager for Tunisia. If the U.S. is helping to fund $500 million for World Bank Tunisia projects, that office needs to be held accountable,” Neuer stated.

Cali is the husband of the controversial UN Human Rights envoy Francesca Albanese, who also has a recorded history of embracing antisemitism, history revisionism and pro-terrorism sentiments.

Albanese, who is officially tasked with serving as an objective and professional observer of the Middle East conflict, has been accused of repeatedly criticizing Israel while minimizing the scale of the Hamas Oct. 7 terror attack in 2023.

In June 2024, UN Watch accused Albanese of “running a global influence network of more than 100 individuals and NGOs to target Israel.”

In April, the United States called for Albanese’s removal due to her embrace of extreme antisemitism.

“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,” UN Watch wrote on 𝕏.