US Treasury removes anti-Israel UN envoy Francesca Albanese from sanctions list |
The United States this week removed Francesca Albanese, a UN special rapporteur on the West Bank and Gaza, from its list of sanctioned individuals, according to the US Treasury Department website, which didn’t provide an explanation for the move.
The removal came a week after a federal judge temporarily blocked the sanctions, finding that US President Donald Trump’s administration likely violated her free-speech rights by imposing the measures.
Albanese, who has long been accused of antisemitism and extremist rhetoric against Israel, was sanctioned by the Trump administration last year for alleged “political and economic warfare” against the US and Israel. As United Nations special rapporteur on the West Bank and Gaza, she has recommended the International Criminal Court pursue war crimes prosecutions against Israeli and American nationals.
When announcing the sanctions last year, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the step against Albanese was taken in light of “her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt International Criminal Court action against US and Israeli officials, companies and executives.”
Rubio also said she has “spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism and open contempt for the United........