UN’s Integrity Crumbles as Guterres Ousts Genocide Expert for Refusing to Vilify Israel

UN’s Integrity Crumbles as Guterres Ousts Genocide Expert for Refusing to Vilify Israel

By: Fern Sidman

The decision by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to let Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu’s contract lapse is an unmistakable act of political maneuvering, intended to appease anti-Israel forces within the UN and beyond. Nderitu’s steadfast refusal to label Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” was grounded in her professional integrity and a commitment to the actual legal definition of genocide. Yet this principled stance appears to have cost her the position.

Alice Wairimu Nderitu adhered to the internationally recognized definition of genocide: the deliberate intent to destroy an ethnic, racial, or religious group. This does not apply to Israel’s military actions in Gaza, which are meticulously targeted to dismantle Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure while minimizing civilian harm. As Nderitu rightly asserted, the IDF’s operations lack the defining intent necessary to categorize them as genocide.

Unfortunately, Guterres and other UN officials have long been complicit in a pattern of anti-Israel bias. As noted, High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has gone so far as to avoid labeling Hamas a terrorist organization, even as it openly claims responsibility for heinous attacks on Israeli civilians. Guterres himself, a Portuguese socialist, has consistently amplified rhetoric that demonizes Israel while ignoring Hamas’s war crimes. Nderitu’s departure appears to pave the way for a replacement more willing to conform to this agenda, abandoning the principle of impartiality that the UN ostensibly upholds.

The IDF’s ongoing operations in Gaza are driven by the need to neutralize Hamas, an organization that launched a brutal attack on Israel, murdering and kidnapping civilians in October 2023. Israel has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to minimizing civilian casualties, even as Hamas uses Gaza’s population as human shields by embedding military assets in densely populated areas.

Accusations of genocide ignore these facts and rely on a gross distortion of the term. As Nderitu emphasized, genocide requires a demonstrable intent to destroy a group entirely, something that is categorically absent from Israel’s actions. The IDF goes to great lengths, including issuing warnings before strikes, to prevent harm to non-combatants—measures that are virtually unprecedented in modern warfare.

The UN’s willingness to misuse the term “genocide” for political purposes has dangerous implications far beyond the Israel-Hamas conflict. By diluting the term’s meaning, the UN risks undermining efforts to hold actual perpetrators of genocide accountable, from Myanmar to Sudan. When international bodies  such as the UN prioritize ideological narratives over factual analysis, they erode the credibility of international law and the mechanisms designed to enforce it.

Nderitu’s departure is a stark warning: within the UN, even experts committed to truth and accuracy can be sidelined if their findings conflict with the prevailing political zeitgeist. This represents a betrayal not only of Nderitu but of the millions of people worldwide who depend on the UN to uphold justice and fairness.

President-elect Donald Trump should prioritize addressing this issue once he takes office. The United States is the largest financial contributor to the UN, yet it consistently finds itself vilified by the same institution. If Guterres continues to enable anti-Israel bias and political maneuvering, the U.S. must reconsider its financial support. Withholding funds until genuine reforms are enacted would send a clear message that the UN cannot continue to operate as a platform for ideologically driven attacks against c nations that uphold and champion democratic values such as Israel.

Moreover, Trump should advocate for the appointment of leaders within the UN who are committed to impartiality and the rule of law. Guterres’s term as Secretary-General ends next year, offering an opportunity for change. The U.S. must leverage its influence to ensure that Guterres’s successor prioritizes fairness and rejects the toxic politicization of critical terms like genocide.

The UN’s treatment of Alice Wairimu Nderitu speaks volumes about the organization’s deep-seated bias against Israel and its abandonment of impartiality. By allowing her contract to lapse, Guterres has signaled that truth and integrity are secondary to political expediency. The U.S. and its allies must not let this go unchallenged.

Nderitu’s principled stance deserves recognition, and her departure highlights the urgent need for reform within the UN. If the organization cannot rise above its biases, it risks not only its credibility but its ability to fulfill its mission of promoting peace and justice globally.