- May 28, 2026
- 1:29 pm
- World News
Israel may be placed on the UN’s ‘blacklist’ regarding sexual violence in conflict zones. This refers to a list of countries, agencies, and armed groups that, according to the UN Secretary-General, are associated with conflict-related sexual violence or are responsible for such practices.
According to The Jerusalem Post on May 28, 2026, Israeli entities, including the Israel Prison Service, may be included in the 2026 list. An official announcement had not been made at the time of publication, but Israeli media had already reported that the decision had been made, causing a sharp reaction from Jerusalem.
For Israel, this is not just another dispute with the UN. Being listed alongside Hamas, ISIS, and other terrorist organizations is perceived in Jerusalem as an attempt to erase the moral difference between a state that is at war after October 7 and entities for which terror, abductions, and violence are part of their method.
What happened on May 28, 2026, and why it became a scandal
On May 28, 2026, The Jerusalem Post reported that the UN is adding Israeli entities to the list related to sexual violence in armed conflicts. The publication specifically noted that Hamas is already on this list, and a country or armed group placed on the UN Secretary-General’s list remains there for at least one year.
The chronology is important here.
In August 2025, UN Secretary-General António Guterres included Hamas in the annual report on sexual violence in conflicts. The basis was findings of crimes committed during the October 7, 2023, attack and the period of holding Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.
At that time, Israel received a signal that it might be next in this monitoring mechanism. Reuters reported on August 12, 2025, that Guterres had put Israel ‘on notice’ due to allegations of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees. This did not mean immediate inclusion in the list but a warning: if the UN considers that there are recurring patterns, Israel could be included in the next year’s report.
Now, in May 2026, this scenario, according to Israeli reports, is being realized.
Which entities may be included in the list
According to Israeli media, among the entities expected to be on the 2026 list is the Israel Prison Service. Other Israeli agencies that have come under the UN monitoring system are also mentioned.
Israeli sources claim that Jerusalem has submitted documents, data, and detailed responses to the accusations outlined in reports and draft documents. Moreover, Israel invited representatives of the relevant office to visit the country, come to Jerusalem, and personally study the presented materials.
This moment became central in the Israeli reaction. In Jerusalem, they say: if the state provided answers, opened the door for verification, and offered direct access to information, but the decision is still being advanced, then the issue goes beyond a professional human rights procedure.
Following reports of the decision, Israel announced a freeze in relations with the UN Secretary-General’s office. Israel Hayom reported on May 28, 2026, that Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, announced the cessation of working relations with Guterres’s office after the inclusion of Israeli entities in the list.
Why Israel sees this as a political decision
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, called the expected decision a moral disgrace. According to him, the UN Secretary-General is placing Israel in the same blacklist as Hamas, ISIS, and the world’s most brutal terrorist organizations.
For Israel, this is a matter of principle not only of reputation but also of the language of international politics.
Sexual violence in war is one of the most serious categories of crimes. It cannot be silenced, devalued, or turned into a subject of propaganda games. But precisely for this reason, according to Israeli logic, any accusations must be checked as strictly as possible: by sources, by procedures, by evidence, by specific cases, and not through a political framework where Israel is preemptively placed alongside terrorists.
After October 7, this is especially sensitive. Hamas was included in the list following evidence of sexual violence during the mass attack on Israel and against hostages. Israel’s position is based on the fact that comparing Israeli state structures with Hamas in the same moral space does not help the victims but destroys trust in the UN mechanism itself.
NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency views this story as part of a broader information-diplomatic war around Israel. Today, it is not only what happens on the battlefield or in negotiation rooms that matters. It also matters what words appear in international reports, how these words are then quoted in the media, courts, universities, and political campaigns.
Where is the New York Times and Nicholas Kristof in this
A separate layer of this story is related to Nicholas Kristof’s publication in The New York Times. On May 11, 2026, he wrote a column alleging sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners and detainees by Israeli military and prison guards.
This publication immediately became a loud international occasion. The Guardian reported on May 14, 2026, that Israel announced its intention to file a lawsuit against The New York Times over the material on sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners.
In Israel, Kristof’s article was perceived as part of a campaign in which serious accusations against Israeli entities are spread at a time when the country itself is seeking recognition of Hamas’s crimes on October 7. Critics of the material pointed to questions about the sources, the format of the publication, and the fact that the text appeared in the opinion section but began to function as a factual document in the international agenda.
Meanwhile, The New York Times, according to Western media reports, defended the publication and insisted that the material had been vetted. Supporters of the publication argued that the allegations regarding Palestinian prisoners require investigation and cannot be dismissed simply because they are uncomfortable to discuss.
This is where the conflict becomes particularly acute. One side speaks of the need to verify serious accusations. The other — that such accusations are used without sufficient context and become a tool of political pressure on Israel.
Why this UN list is important for the Israeli audience
For Israel, being included in such a list is not just a line in an annual report. It is a potential basis for further diplomatic attacks, resolutions, legal initiatives, boycott campaigns, and pressure on Israeli officials, military, prison system, and security structures.
What is particularly dangerous is that international documents live longer than the news cycle. Today it is a headline. Tomorrow — a quote in a human rights organization’s report. In a month — an argument in parliamentary debates in Europe. In a year — part of a lawsuit, a university campaign, or a media accusation against Israel.
Therefore, Jerusalem reacts so harshly to UN formulations. In Israel, it is believed that the organization has long lost neutrality on issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is now using one of the most painful topics — sexual violence — in a political context.
But there is another side. If specific accusations are made against Israeli officials or agencies, they must be investigated. A state that demands recognition of Hamas’s crimes from the world is itself interested in ensuring that all suspicions regarding its structures are examined transparently, professionally, and without silence.
The difference is that verification and political equalization are not the same.
What will happen next
If the inclusion of Israeli entities in the list is officially confirmed, Israel will likely continue its diplomatic attack on the UN Secretary-General’s office. The freezing of relations with Guterres’s office already shows that Jerusalem does not intend to perceive this as a routine bureaucratic procedure.
The question will then be whether Israel can present its evidential line to allies: what data was submitted to the UN, what accusations are being contested, what checks have already been conducted, where there are real cases, and where, according to Israel, a politically assembled picture exists.
For the UN, this is also a test. If the organization wants its reports to be perceived as a tool for protecting victims, it will have to explain why Israel ended up on the same list as Hamas and ISIS, and how verified facts are separated from political pressure.
Meanwhile, in Israel, the conclusion sounds harsh: the UN is not just assessing accusations but creating a new international framework in which Israel is being placed alongside terrorist organizations. And this is what Jerusalem calls not justice, but moral blurring.