The United Nations has placed Israeli entities on its annual blacklist of parties accused of committing sexual violence in conflict zones, triggering an unusually sharp diplomatic backlash from Israel and further straining already fragile relations between Jerusalem and the UN leadership.
The decision, disclosed publicly by Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, drew immediate condemnation. Danon described the move as politically motivated and detached from reality, arguing that Israel had cooperated extensively with UN officials and submitted evidence rejecting the allegations.
“This is a political decision, disconnected from facts and reality,” Danon said in a public statement, adding that Israel had provided documents and data to counter claims raised in UN reports.
According to Israeli media, the Israel Prison Service has been included on the UN’s 2026 list, alongside other Israeli authorities. Additional Israeli bodies were reportedly placed under a monitoring framework, meaning they could face future inclusion if the UN determines further thresholds have been met.
The blacklist is published annually by the UN Secretary-General and names states, armed groups, and organizations accused of sexual violence in conflict. Once added, an entity remains on the list for at least one year. The Palestinian group Hamas was added to the same blacklist in August 2025 following investigations into sexual crimes committed during the October 7 attacks.
Those findings were detailed in reports by Pramila Patten, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Patten concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe Hamas carried out rape and other forms of sexual violence during the assault and against Israeli hostages in Gaza.
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Israeli officials say that after Hamas was formally listed, intense diplomatic pressure was applied to place Israel on the same framework. In August 2025, UN Secretary-General António Guterres put Israel “on notice” for potential inclusion, citing concerns over alleged patterns of abuse. Israel has consistently denied those allegations.
Over the past year, Danon and his delegation held multiple meetings with senior UN officials. Israel says it shared internal investigations, legal assessments, and operational data, and even invited UN personnel to visit the country and relevant sites. Despite that cooperation, Israeli officials say the Secretary-General chose to proceed with the listing.
In response, Israel announced it was freezing relations with the UN Secretary-General’s Office and cancelled a planned visit by Pramila Patten. Israeli officials said formal engagement with the Secretary-General’s Office would remain suspended for the remainder of Guterres’ term, which ends on December 31, 2026.
“This decision places Israel on the same blacklist as Hamas, ISIS, and the world’s most depraved terrorist organizations,” Danon told Israeli media. “It represents a moral collapse and the erosion of what credibility the UN still claimed to have.”
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The dispute unfolds as the United Nations faces what officials describe as the deepest financial crisis in its 80-year history, with more than $1.56 billion in unpaid member state dues.
The controversy has also been amplified by a recent opinion article published by The New York Times, written by columnist Nicholas Kristof.
The op-ed alleged a pattern of sexual violence by Israeli soldiers, settlers, prison guards, and security personnel against Palestinians. Kristof said his reporting was based on interviews with 14 individuals who claimed abuse.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry denounced the article as “one of the worst blood libels in modern journalism,” arguing it inverted reality by portraying Israel as the perpetrator while minimizing documented sexual crimes committed by Hamas.
Officials also criticized the newspaper for not publishing findings from Israel’s Civil Commission, which concluded that sexual and gender-based violence by Hamas on October 7 was systematic and integral to the attack.
Israeli leaders across the political spectrum condemned the UN decision. Former defense minister Benny Gantz accused the UN of moral blindness and hypocrisy, while former ambassador Gilad Erdan described the organization as corrupt and warned that Israel was losing ground in the international narrative battle.
The confrontation marks one of the most serious breakdowns in Israel-UN relations in recent years, with both sides accusing the other of politicizing allegations of sexual violence at a time of heightened global tension.
