Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon responded today (Tuesday) to the resignations of all three commissioners of the UN Human Rights Council's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
“After U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese for abusing her role as UN Special Rapporteur to demonize Israel, today Navi Pillay announced her resignation, alongside Miloon Kothari and Chris Sidoti," Danon stated. "This is a step in the right direction — but there is still a long road ahead."
"We will not rest until justice and moral clarity are restored in the halls of the United Nations," he continued. "We are still waiting for a public apology from UN Relief Chief Tom Fletcher for misusing his platform at the UN Security Council to spread dangerous blood libels about Israel committing a 'genocide' in Gaza."
"We will not stop exposing those who abuse their senior positions to spread antisemitism and lies about Israel,” he said.
Immediately following the resignations, Professor Anne Bayefsky, Director, Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust; President, Human Rights Voices, told Arutz Sheva - Israel National News that "Navi Pillay has spent almost the last two decades of her life bashing the state of Israel and promoting grotesque antisemitism from top UN positions. As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (2008-2014) and as champion of the racist 'anti-racism' Durban conference, she specialized in the promotion of blood libels against Jews. Within three days of October 7th, Pillay's Commission of Inquiry (COI) claimed it had evidence of Israeli crimes, and shouted the ultimate obscenity: the slaughter of Jews was the fault of the Jewish state. The victims were to blame. 'The root cause of the conflict,' Pillay's COI said, was Israel’s 'illegal occupation.' Moreover, Pillay and her COI actually promoted terror. They gave Hamas the political backing to carry on. On October 30, 2023 Pillay said in an interview to Al Jazeera of Palestinian terrorists: 'they are actually forced to resort to armed struggle.' At the same time, in October 2023 Pillay's COI told the General Assembly that Israel has no UN Charter right of self-defense."
"Her right-hand on the COI is Australian Chris Sidoti. Although Sidoti formally resigned today along with Pillay, he was very quick to say in the same message that he would gladly "accept re-appointment." Sidoti is clearly angling to take her place as COI Chair. Given his own horrendous anti-Jewish and anti-Israel record, the UN Human Rights Council President might well oblige. Sidoti is the man who has openly mocked concerns about antisemitism, telling the UN Human Rights Council in June 2023: 'accusations of antisemitism are thrown around like rice at a wedding.' In June 2024, Sidoti demonized Israel's bravest, announcing to the UN in Geneva: 'The Israeli army is one of the most criminal armies in the world.' In June 2025, at the Human Rights Council, Sidoti equated Israeli hostages with what he referred to as Palestinian 'hostages.' In other words, according to his depraved way of thinking, the Bibas babies were equivalent to convicted Palestinian mass murderers. Sidoti told the UN press corps in 2024 that Israel was an 'occupier' of Palestinian territory from its 1948 inception."
"In short, the mandate and purpose of the COI is to bring about the demise of the Jewish state. Pillay chose to spend her old age (she'll be 84 in September) on an anti-human rights mission, championing violence, hatred and intolerance. She will be remembered as one of the most diabolical human rights frauds in human history," Prof. Bayefsky said.
