The United Nations’ false equation

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas employed sexual violence as a weapon in the orders issued by its then-leader, Yahya Sinwar.

It was used against women, men and children, and later against hostages held in Gaza. Rape was often accompanied by mutilation and murder. All of this is documented in thousands of records, videos filmed by Hamas itself, firsthand testimonies and accounts from those who collected the remains—often only fragments of bodies.

Having visited the kibbutzim immediately after the massacre, I encountered the evidence firsthand.

Now the United Nations has once again demonstrated its moral failure, completing a campaign against Israel that began with the infamous 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism. Israel has now been placed on the same blacklist as Hamas and ISIS for allegedly committing sexual violence in conflict.

As if such crimes were an intrinsic characteristic of the Jewish state. As if Israeli military and civilian law did not severely punish sexual violence. Indeed, one of Israel’s most controversial recent scandals involved the detention of five reservists over allegations of abuse at Sde Teiman, where many of the Oct. 7 perpetrators are imprisoned.

Many Israelis viewed the case as an example of judicial and media overreach, but the allegations were investigated. Sexual violence is recognised as one of the most serious forms of dehumanisation, attacking the body, identity and human dignity of its victims.

The accusation against Israel is itself a form of moral criminalisation. As his tenure draws to a close, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is leaving behind an international organisation that has effectively joined the campaign against Israel, aligning itself with anti-Western forces that seek the Jewish state’s elimination.

Israeli journalist Amit Segal recently suggested examining the record of the U.N.’s so-called special rapporteurs. Francesca Albanese, who routinely portrays Israel as the source of the world’s ills, hardly requires further discussion. But consider Reem Alsalem, who refused to investigate the mass sexual atrocities committed in Israel and claimed there was “no evidence” of such crimes.

Or Michael Fakhri, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, who led accusations that Israel was causing famine in Gaza while ignoring the hundreds of aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip daily—many of whose contents were routinely seized by Hamas—and overlooking the starvation endured by Israeli hostages.

Then there is Tlaleng Mofokeng, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Health, who has argued that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation and that armed struggle is not a crime.

The New York Times added fuel to the fire with an article written by Nicholas Kristof, built in part on testimony from a member of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, an organisation whose leadership includes figures closely linked to Hamas. The article revived accusations of sexual abuse against Palestinian prisoners, including sensational claims involving attack dogs.

The false equivalence is staggering. It is the same equivalence used by the International Criminal Court when it placed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in the same category as Sinwar. Israel is portrayed as Hamas. Or worse, as Nazis.

This colossal lie, especially when spread by the United Nations, poisons the world.