Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday that his country would cut ties with the U.N. secretary general and his office, after the office’s decision to include Israel on an upcoming sexual violence blacklist over alleged sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees.
Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador, said that he had been officially informed by the secretary general’s office that Israel and its security services would be included in an annual report on conflict-related sexual violence. He called the decision “disconnected from the facts and reality.”
Hamas is also included on an associated list of countries and groups accused of using sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Mr. Danon denounced the decision, denied the accusations and accused the U.N. chief, António Guterres, of lying and of choosing not to fully investigate claims against Israel. “To put us and Hamas terrorists on the same list,” Mr. Danon said in a video. “That’s unacceptable.”
Friction between Israel and the United Nations has intensified in recent years, with Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, declaring Mr. Guterres persona non grata in 2024. It was a rare diplomatic designation that reflected Israel’s broader tensions with the United Nations following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that set off the war in Gaza.
Mr. Guterres’s term as U.N. chief will end this year, and it is not clear what Israel’s announcement that it is severing ties with his office means, considering the already dire state of their relations.
The U.N. spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, characterized Israel’s announcement as “symbolic” and unlikely to change U.N. operations. He said the organization would “continue to work with the Israeli Mission.”
“We think that member states should engage and continue to engage,” he said, adding that “engaging is always a better solution than disengaging.”
Mr. Dujarric declined to comment on the contents of the report, which he said would be shared with members of the Security Council on Thursday and made public in about 10 days.
Israel’s inclusion in the report comes as the country has pushed back against accusations of abuse of Palestinian prisoners, including sexual violence.
In March, the Israeli military dropped a politically fraught case against five reserve soldiers charged with brutalizing a Palestinian detainee, citing difficulties with the evidence.
The military’s former chief legal officer had resigned over her role in leaking surveillance footage of the alleged abuse to local news media in an effort to ensure that prosecution could not be thwarted, further fueling the uproar surrounding the case. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the prosecution as “blood libel” that had “defamed Israel worldwide” and said it had been “conducted in a criminal manner.”
Earlier this month, Mr. Netanyahu threatened to sue The New York Times for defamation over an Opinion column describing the use of sexual violence against Palestinians by some soldiers, settlers and prison guards. The Times said in a statement that the threat “aims to undermine independent reporting” and that “any such legal claim would be without merit.”
Responding to the U.N.’s inclusion of Israel in its sexual violence report, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the “sole motivation” for the decision was “an attempt to create a fake symmetry between Israel and the real sexual atrocities committed by Hamas.”
Mr. Danon’s office on Thursday shared a letter from Mr. Guterres informing Israel of its inclusion. The U.N. chief wrote that last year’s report had “put the Israeli armed and security forces on notice for potential listing in the next reporting cycle” and that there had been an “increasing number of cases” of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees verified since.
Mr. Guterres acknowledged that Israel had engaged with his representative on the matter but said the country “has not directly addressed” implementation of measures to stop the problem, such as more oversight.
Ephrat Livni is a Times reporter covering breaking news around the world. She is based in Washington.
The post Israel to Cut Ties With U.N. Chief Over Its Inclusion on Sexual Violence Blacklist appeared first on New York Times.
