- A watchdog organization called on the World Bank to fire one its senior economist Massimiliano Cali - husband of controversial UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese - accusing him of antisemitic hate speech, and releasing a video of his anti-Israel tirade in the Italian Parliament. Click here for New UN Watch Complaint Letter to World Bank.
In its letter today to World Bank President Ajay Banga - after an initial complaint last week that drew international coverage - UN Watch revealed fresh evidence of Cali’s gross misconduct, including the video of him attacking Israel at an Italian Parliament event featuring his wife, and his interview of the same day calling on the EU to scrap its political and trade agreement with Israel.
UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer warned that Cali’s actions pose a “grave danger” to the Word Bank’s credibility and violate its mandate to remain apolitical.
“Nobody else in the World Bank is standing up in parliaments and attacking member states, or calling to scrap trade deals,” said Neuer.
“It’s clear that Cali’s partisan public pronouncements adversely reflect on his status as an international civil servant, and on the integrity, independence and impartiality required by the World Bank, putting him in material breach of the Bank’s basic rules.”
Hate Speech Allegations
The watchdog said Cali has repeatedly compared Israel to Nazi Germany, including in a Facebook post likening a Jewish child in the Warsaw Ghetto to a Palestinian boy in Gaza. In other posts, Cali described Israel as a “settler-colonial, apartheid project,” language that denies the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.
According to UN Watch’s complaint, many of Cali’s posts remained online for years before being deleted only after the World Bank was formally alerted. FOX Business reported last week that the Bank confirmed that it had taken “disciplinary action” against Cali, and that his posts that crossed the line into hate speech were deleted.
UN Watch argues that anything short of termination contradicts the Bank’s stated policy that employees found guilty of hate speech are dismissed and barred from future employment.
“The World Bank claims to have ‘zero tolerance’ for antisemitism, yet they turned a blind eye for a decade as their official compared Israelis to Nazis, a textbook case of antisemitism,” said Neuer.
“We’re calling on the U.S., the top donor to the World Bank, to seriously consider if the institution is upholding its rules.”
Cali Launches Anti-Israel Tirade in Italian Parliament, Urges EU to Scrap Trade Deal
The letter also pointed to Cali’s anti-Israel tirade in Italy’s Parliament, as seen in a video released today by UN Watch, where he attended a conference featuring his wife, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, organized by a coalition of the country’s left-wing political parties led by the Five Star Movement.
Albanese, who was recently sanctioned by the United States for antisemitism and economic lawfare, presented a report titled “From an Economy of Occupation to an Economy of Genocide.”
During this event, Cali stood up, identified himself by name, and accused Israel - a World Bank member state - of “genocide.” He castigated Italian lawmakers for “washing their hands” of the alleged crime and warned that voters would punish them if they failed to act.
After his anti-Israel tirade, Cali doubled down in an interview with HuffPost Italia, calling for a “political intiative” by EU countries to recognize a Palestinian state - and to suspend its Association Agreement with Israel, which is the treaty that gives Israel special trade access to Europe and underpins political, scientific, and cultural cooperation between the two. The article noted that “his wife agreed.”
Risks to the Bank’s Credibility
Neuer said the World Bank’s founding document “prohibits interference in the political affairs of member states and require decisions to be based solely on economic considerations.”
By going to a political event and publicly accusing Israel of “genocide,” and lobbying for sanctions in a national parliament, argued Neuer, “Cali crossed“every red line of neutrality required of World Bank staff.”
UN Watch urged the Bank to dismiss Cali and bar him from future employment, warning that his conduct “subverts a foundational principle” and could damage the institution’s standing with its shareholders.
Copies of the complaint were also sent today to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces sanctions.
