The State Department on Wednesday suggested the author of a UN human rights report that says there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel is committing genocide is anti-Semitic as a way to dismiss the allegations.
The author of the report, Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur to the occupied Palestinian territories, presented it to the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday.
“Israel has committed three acts of genocide with the requisite intent, causing seriously serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent birth within the group,” Albanese said.
State Department spokesman Matt Miller was asked about the report and said the US has for a “longstanding period of time opposed the mandate of this special rapporteur” and accused Albanese of having a “history of anti-Semitic comments.”
Miller said Albanese had made comments “that appeared to justify the attacks of October 7.” Albanese enraged Israeli officials earlier this year for writing on X that the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack “were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression. France & the international community did nothing to prevent it. My respects to the victims.”
Miller did not address the substance of Albanese’s detailed report and repeated the US position that it denies Israel is committing genocide. “With respect to the report itself, we have made clear that we believe that allegations of genocide are unfounded,” he said.
Albanese’s report came months after the International Court of Justice ruled that it’s “plausible” Israel is committing genocide. The court’s final ruling on the case won’t happen for a few years, but if Israel is found guilty of genocide, the US would be implicated due to its strong military support for Israeli operations in Gaza.