UN Chief Defends Official Who Shared Anti-Israel Claims as Calls for Probe Grow

A senior United Nations official is facing renewed criticism after reposting an anti-Israel claim that originated with a woman charged with incitement to terrorism and accused of voicing support for Hamas.

On June 18, Vanessa Frazier, the U.N. special representative of the secretary-general for children and armed conflict, shared an image showing three small items that the original poster, Sarah Wilkinson, alleged were cluster munitions “disguised as children’s toys” and had been “strategically” dropped by Israelis over Lebanon. Adding her own comment, Frazier wrote, “If this is true it means that there is a deliberate, premeditated intent to kill children.”

Frazier, whose X account has more than 10,000 followers, later removed the post. News Agency was provided with a screenshot of the deleted repost.

Asked whether United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres supported Frazier’s decision to repost Wilkinson’s claim, Guterres’ spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told News Agency that “the retweet was deleted a while ago and, as you know, [the] retweet in no way implies an endorsement of the person who posted the original tweet.”

Andrew Fox, a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, told News Agency it was “farcical that a U.N. official should be so gullible.”

Fox, a former British army officer who has researched and written about Israel Defense Forces tactics, said it was “deeply telling that a U.N. official should leap to share the ancient, antisemitic blood libel that Jews kill children. This is the toxic atmosphere that nearly three years of lies have created around Israel. Any allegation against the Jewish state, no matter how outlandish, is immediately given credence. This is another nail in the coffin of the U.N. special representative’s credibility and reputation.”

An IDF spokesman rejected the accusation in comments to News Agency, saying the “allegation is baseless and unfounded. It is fake news, and we categorically reject it.”

The original poster of the cluster munitions accusation was arrested in the United Kingdom on terror charges in 2024, according to the World Socialist Web Site. The site, as well as Al Mayadeen English — Hezbollah’s media arm — link Wilkinson to the social media profile on X that shared the post Frazier elevated.

The BBC reported last week that Wilkinson will face trial in January on “two counts of encouragement of terrorism on social media, two counts of expressing an opinion or belief that was supportive of a proscribed organization, namely Hamas; and one of failing to comply with a police investigation.”

Though Wilkinson discussed her arrests and subsequent charges on her X account, she did not respond to News Agency’s messages asking for comment about the charges she currently faces.

In response to questions about her removal of the X post and concerns about its original source, Frazier said that “regarding specific tweets, I understand why some of my social media activities have generated questions. Where concerns arose regarding posts, I took appropriate action. Nonetheless, the intended message is to emphasize the alarm of the Secretary-General in his Annual Report regarding the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in Lebanon, a matter that raises serious humanitarian concerns due to their long-lasting impact on civilians.”

Frazier said, “Ultimately, my mandate is not carried out through social media. It is carried out through the United Nations’ established monitoring and verification methodology, which applies the same standards to all parties to conflict.”

In March, JNS reported that Frazier posted that she was “deeply alarmed by reports of attacks on Iranian schools leaving a large number of casualties, mostly children.” A photograph accompanying the post showed numerous black body bags. When it became clear that the photo depicted victims of the Iranian regime’s crackdown on protesters, Frazier removed the post. She then created a new post with a similar sentiment featuring an updated picture.

On June 24, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council president raising Israel’s “grave concerns regarding conduct that appears inconsistent with the neutrality, professionalism, and impartiality expected of a senior United Nations official.”

In his letter, a copy of which was provided to News Agency, Danon said Frazier’s social media behavior suggests “a troubling pattern of engagement with unverified, disputed, or misleading material, alongside content raising concerns about antisemitic framing and extremist rhetoric.”

Danon also raised concerns about Frazier’s “abrupt interruption of [his] remarks during a United Nations side event,” which he said was “in disregard of basic procedural norms and the respect owed to Member States.”

Reuters called this exchange between Danon and Frazier “a furious shouting match.”

Frazier told News Agency that her “intervention was procedural, not political. Its purpose was to help ensure that the discussion remained consistent with the standards expected in a United Nations forum,” where discussions “are expected to be conducted in accordance with established procedures and with respect for the dignity of participants and officials.”

The June 17 release of the Secretary-General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict has also raised concerns.

Anne Bayefsky, president of Human Rights Voices and director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, told News Agency that the allegations in the report were “wild, dangerous blood libels divorced from reality.”

Bayefsky blasted the U.N.’s use of the term “verified” when describing allegations, despite a lack of description of how and through what sources those supposed verifications occurred.

She said, “It is important to recognize the direct connection between the ancient antisemitic blood libels accusing evil Jews of murdering non-Jewish children and the U.N. actors who repeat the same ugly falsehoods today. History teaches us just how dangerous these depraved lies are for Jews wherever they live.”

Frazier defended the report, saying it was “the product of a rigorous United Nations (U.N.) monitoring and verification process and reflects information reviewed at multiple levels of the U.N. system.” She said that “suggesting that the report is based on falsehoods does a disservice to all child victims, including Israeli children whose suffering is also documented in the report.”

Frazier also maintained she has “no bias against the State of Israel or against any Member States of the United Nations, and reject[s] the characterization,” saying that “as a U.N. official, accuracy, impartiality, and credibility are fundamental to my work.”

When asked by News Agency if Guterres would examine Frazier’s tenure, Dujarric responded that “the Secretary-General has full confidence in Vanessa Frazier and her work.”

He defended Frazier, saying she “has not ‘vilified’ and is not ‘vilifying’ the State of Israel, or any other country for that matter. Her focus is not on any one single country but on the protection of children throughout the world. Under the mandate the Security Council has given her, she does not ‘blacklist’ Member States or other parties. The report exists to find ways to get all of the parties listed to improve their behavior, so that children can be protected in concrete ways. She has been effective in doing just that.” 

Danon said that “it comes as no surprise that Secretary-General Guterres expresses full confidence in Ms. Frazier.” He said Frazier’s report “is a symptom of [Guterres’] tenure. Under his leadership, the United Nations has repeatedly failed to uphold the standards of impartiality it claims to represent.”