Stop explaining. It is time for the U.N. to answer Israel’s questions

"...over decades, one country has become the subject of an extraordinary and self-perpetuating institutional system of scrutiny. That country is Israel.

The UN Human Rights Council maintains a permanent Agenda Item 7 devoted to the ‘human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.’ No other country has a comparable permanent country-specific agenda item. Since 2021, an ongoing Commission of Inquiry has investigated Israel and the Palestinian territories, while the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories dates back to 1993 and was established to continue until the end of the Israeli occupation...

Who chooses those who judge Israel?

The case of Francesca Albanese illustrates the institutional problem particularly well.

Controversy surrounding the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories did not begin with her most recent reports. Earlier public statements had already led to serious accusations of bias and the use of antisemitic tropes. Albanese rejects those accusations.

In 2026, several European governments publicly criticized her, with some calling for her resignation. The United States had already imposed sanctions on her.

But the more important issue is not Francesca Albanese herself. It is the system that places a person in such a sensitive international position.

How is impartiality assessed before an appointment? Are previous public statements and potential conflicts of interest systematically reviewed? What happens when serious questions arise after an appointment? Who is accountable for the decision, and what mechanism exists to correct a mistake? These questions extend far beyond one Special Rapporteur...

Israel should suspend its participation in the UN. At the same time, it should formally demand concrete answers from the United Nations.

Why is Israel the only country subjected to a permanent dedicated agenda item at the Human Rights Council? By what criteria are commissions and special mandates established? How are Special Rapporteurs and commission members selected? What due diligence is performed before their appointment, and who is accountable when credible questions about impartiality emerge? How does the UN vet humanitarian partners and information supplied by parties to an armed conflict? Most importantly, what reforms is the organization prepared to undertake, and on what timetable?...

Israel is not refusing accountability. It is refusing to accept a system in which Israel is perpetually required to answer, while the institutions judging it consider themselves exempt from answering in return."