In yet another moral and institutional failure by the United Nations, the international body decided to add Israeli institutions to a blacklist of actors accused of committing sexual violence in conflict.
According to exclusive reporting by The Jerusalem Post’s Mathilda Heller, the UN has added the Israel Prison Service to its sexual-assault blacklist, which includes Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
Israel has claimed that heavy pressure was exerted on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to include Israeli entities on the list, following Hamas’s inclusion in August 2025, when Israel was also placed “on notice” for possible future inclusion.
In response, Israel froze relations with Guterres and canceled the planned visit of Pramila Patten, the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict.
In placing Israeli institutions alongside Hamas, the UN has practically collapsed the distinction between isolated criminal allegations and systematic sexual violence deployed as a weapon of war.
