Israeli Actress Sues UN Envoy for $137,000 Over Defamation
Translated & summarized from Mako by baba
Israeli actress Sherri Givati is suing UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for NIS 500,000 in defamation damages. Givati claims Albanese falsely portrayed her as justifying the killing of children in Gaza by misrepresenting an interview clip on social media and comparing her to Nazis. The lawsuit alleges the post caused significant harm to Givati's reputation and safety, leading to threats. Albanese is expected to contest the jurisdiction and claim immunity.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Actress Sherri Givati is suing UN envoy Francesca Albanese for NIS 500,000 over defamation.
- Givati alleges Albanese falsely accused her of justifying child killings in Gaza.
- Albanese shared a miscontextualized interview clip comparing Givati to Nazis.
- The lawsuit claims the UN envoy's post endangered Givati's safety and career.
- Albanese is expected to claim diplomatic immunity and challenge court jurisdiction.
Israeli actress and model Sherri Givati has filed a defamation lawsuit seeking NIS 500,000 (approximately $137,000) against Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories. Givati alleges that Albanese distorted her words and took them out of context in a social media post, falsely portraying her as justifying the killing of children in Gaza, drawing a parallel to Nazi justifications for killing children during the Holocaust.
The lawsuit, filed at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court and supported by the Shurat HaDin organization and attorney Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, stems from a September 2025 interview Givati gave to i24NEWS. In the interview, Givati discussed her evolving views following the October 7th Hamas attack, her role as an Israeli advocate online, and her belief that extreme elements exist on both the political left and right. When asked about the implications of Israel's actions, Givati stated, "It saddens me that every child in the world cries, but I understand that this child, if we do not act, will grow up to be a terrorist." She also expressed concern that the term "Israeli" would become difficult to utter after the war.
Approximately a year after the interview, in September 2026, Albanese shared a 23-second clip of the interview on X (formerly Twitter), accompanied by a partial English translation. Albanese captioned the post, "The children will grow. This was also the argument used by senior Nazis during the Nuremberg trials to justify why they killed children during the Holocaust." The post garnered over two million views and tens of thousands of shares.
Givati asserts in her lawsuit that Albanese's post was false, damaging to her reputation, and created the "preposterous accusation" that she supports killing children. She claims the post endangered her personal safety, leading to numerous hate messages and death threats, and has harmed her professional opportunities internationally. "As a mother, I am horrified by the false comparison," Givati stated, adding, "You can disagree with my opinions, but you cannot attribute things to me that I did not say and present me to millions of people as someone who justifies killing children. I will not remain silent against someone who tries to harm the State of Israel and slander it around the world."
Attorney Nitzana Darshan-Leitner stated that they are waging war against Albanese's "international campaign of lies" and called her an "anti-Semitic agitator" responsible for spreading libel. Albanese has not yet responded, but is expected to argue that Israeli courts lack jurisdiction and claim diplomatic immunity. The Shurat HaDin organization believes Israeli courts do have jurisdiction because the post is global and the damage was done to Givati in Israel.
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