Israeli actress and model Sarai Givaty has filed a 500,000-shekel defamation lawsuit against Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, accusing her of distorting comments from a television interview and comparing them to arguments used by Nazi officials to justify the murder of children during the Holocaust.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday at the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court through the Israeli legal advocacy organization Shurat HaDin and attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, alleges that Albanese shared a selectively edited video of Givaty that went viral, exposing the actress to online abuse, death threats and damage to her professional reputation.
At the center of the dispute is an interview Givaty gave in September 2025, during which she discussed how the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre had changed her worldview. She spoke about growing extremism, referring both to the far right and to radical Islam, and the need to confront radicalization
During the interview, Givaty said: "I feel sad for every child in the world who cries. I do. But I also understand that if we don't act, that child will grow up to be a terrorist."
According to the lawsuit, her comments referred to the dangers of children being exposed to hatred and extremist indoctrination. Her lawyers stress that she neither advocated violence against children nor suggested that they should be killed.
Nearly a year later, a 23-second excerpt from the interview began circulating online, accompanied by what Givaty's lawyers describe as a partial English translation that omitted the broader context of her remarks.
On September 19, 2026, Albanese shared the clip on X and wrote: "The children will grow up". She continued: "This was also the argument that Nazi officials gave, during the Nuremberg Trials, to justify why they had killed children during the Holocaust."
The post quickly spread across social media, accumulating more than 2 million views, tens of thousands of reposts and approximately 93,000 likes. According to the lawsuit, the comparison was subsequently circulated by media outlets and social media accounts around the world, amplifying what Givaty describes as a fundamentally false portrayal of her remarks.
(Photo: X)
Givaty argues that Albanese's reference to Nazi officials and the murder of children presented her to a global audience as someone who supported or justified killing children in Gaza. The lawsuit specifically challenges the use of the words "justify" and "killed children," arguing that their inclusion created the impression that Givaty's original comments amounted to an endorsement of lethal violence against minors.
Her lawyers contend that the comparison went far beyond legitimate criticism of her political views and instead falsely associated her with arguments used to defend atrocities committed during the Holocaust.
Givaty says the consequences were immediate and severe. According to the lawsuit, she received dozens of abusive messages, including direct threats against her life, after Albanese's post spread online. She claims the publication damaged her dignity, personal security and reputation, while also threatening her career in Israel and internationally.
The lawsuit argues that such allegations are particularly damaging to an actress and model working in the international entertainment industry, where producers, talent agencies and commercial brands may be reluctant to associate themselves with someone publicly portrayed as supporting the killing of children. Givaty maintains that the accusations could cost her professional opportunities and commercial relationships.
"As a mother, I am appalled by this false comparison," Givaty said. "People may disagree with my views, but they cannot attribute statements to me that I never made and present me to millions of people as someone who justifies killing children. I will not remain silent in the face of those who seek to harm Israel and smear it around the world."
Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, founder and president of Shurat HaDin, accused Albanese of using her international position to spread defamatory claims against Israelis.
"We are fighting back against the international campaign of lies," Darshan-Leitner said. "Francesca Albanese is waging a venomous antisemitic campaign against Israel and is responsible for spreading yet another defamatory accusation against its citizens."
Darshan-Leitner said the lawsuit was intended to hold Albanese personally accountable for her public statements, despite potential legal questions surrounding her status as a UN-appointed expert.
"For the first time, we can sue this Israel-hater over her hateful statements and make her pay for her actions," she said. "We will not let her hide behind her immunity."
Albanese is an independent human rights expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, rather than a salaried UN employee. Questions of jurisdiction and possible immunity could become central to the legal proceedings. No court has yet ruled on the allegations in Givaty's lawsuit, and Albanese had not publicly responded to the case at the time of reporting.
For Givaty, the lawsuit is an effort to challenge a comparison she says falsely transformed her comments about extremism into an apparent justification for killing children, with consequences extending far beyond the original interview.