GENEVA, August 12, 2025 — In a letter to the head of the World Bank, UN Watch today called for the removal of Massimiliano Cali (a.k.a. “Maxillo Calì”) an employee of the World Bank since 2014 and currently the senior country economist for the World Bank in Tunisia. Cali is also the husband of UN Palestine Rapporteur Francesca Albanese who herself has been condemned by the U.S., France, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands, for Holocaust inversion, antisemitism, and/or Code of Conduct violations that disqualify her from her post.
Contrary to the rules of the World Bank, Mr. Cali routinely makes public pronouncements to promote his radical, anti-Western and anti-Israel political agenda. Despite being paid by the U.S.-funded World Bank, he attacks what he calls “Amerika.” Massimiliano Cali also promotes antisemitism and incites jihadi terrorism on Facebook. See below for some of his inflammatory posts.
Cali’s Wife Albanese Lied to the UN, Failed to Disclose Conflict of Interest With Abbas’s PA Regime
Cali previously worked as an economic advisor to Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority regime, but the potential conflict of interest was not disclosed by his wife when she applied for her UN post.
On her application for the position of UN expert on the Palestinian territories, Albanese certified that she had no personal conflicts of interest. This was a lie. Albanese deliberately omitted the fact that her husband, Massimiliano Calì—who together with Albanese compares Palestinians to Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto resisting the Nazis—formerly worked for Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, where he authored a report on Israel’s “exploitative” policies.
“Prior to joining the [World] Bank,” according to Calì’s official biography, “he served as an economic advisor to the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy.” Calì continues to see himself as a de facto surrogate for the Palestinian government, parroting their line in public social media posts. For this conflict of interest alone, and for lying about it on her application, Albanese should be removed from her UN position.
Calì Promoted Antisemitic Blood Libels and Jihadi Terrorism
As a senior economist with the World Bank in Tunisia, employed there since at least since 2014, Calì has systematically committed serious breaches of his neutrality obligations. For at least the past decade, he publicly promoted antisemitism on his social media. His posts clearly meet the criteria that define antisemitism, according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance: Calì repeatedly claims that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor, and draws comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
Calì regularly posts incitement to antisemitism and jihadi terrorism on Facebook, including comparing Israelis to Nazis, promoting boycott and sanctions against Israel, accusing the Jewish state of genocide and apartheid, and justifying Palestinian terrorism.
And yet the World Bank has taken no action to ensure compliance. The World Bank Staff Rules Directives and Code of Conduct require staff in Article 4 to “act responsibly in making public statements” as these statements are understood to “reflect WBG official positions.” Article 11 expressly states that “staff are perceived as representing the World Bank Group even when expressing views in a personal capacity.” Moreover, as of 2021, the World Bank Group clarified for its employees that “public comments made by staff (including on personal social media accounts) could compromise WBG neutrality and lead to unwanted reputational risks.”
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U.S. Funds His Salary, But Massimiliano Cali Attacks “Amerika”
Though the United States funds his salary by virtue of being the largest donor to the World Bank, he calls it “Amerika.” (August 10, 2014)
Funded by Western Countries, Cali Says “Western Countries Support Genocide”
Cali claimed that Israel is “perpetrating a genocide,” and that Western countries “directly supported” genocide. He did so while sharing an absurdly biased UN report by his wife Francesca Albanese accusing Israel of “perpetrating a genocide in Gaza” while completely ignoring the October 7 Hamas atrocities and Israel’s rights to security and self-defense. (March 25, 2024).
Says Italy’s Democratic Party is “one of the greatest obstacles to human and political progress of Italy”
Cali promoted a panel with his wife Francesca Albanese titled “Colonialism and Apartheid in Palestine.” The text of the post accuses Israel of “committing extermination in Palestine.” He said that Italy’s Democratic Party is “one of the greatest obstacles to human and political progress of Italy.” (January 30, 2024).
Cali: “West is Sinking Into the Abyss”
Cali shared a flyer about another anti-Israel panel with his wife Francesca Albanese. The text of the post criticizes “the West” for its defense of Israel, asserting that it is “sinking into the abyss.” (January 29, 2024).
Attacks U.S., German, Italian Lawmakers for “Anti-Palestinian Racism” and “Islamophobia”
Cali attacked the West for defending Israel and fighting antisemitism, while blaming Israel for the rise in antisemitism. Cali claimed that if Western politicians “really cared about antisemitism (or humanity for that matter), these politicians would do everything they could to stop Israel’s indiscriminate massacre of Palestinians.” He added that Western politicians’ defense of Israel shows that “their anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia are stronger than their desire to protect Jews and humanity.” (December 6, 2023).
Cali Promotes Albanese’s Inversion of Antisemitism, Attacks “Defenders of Colonialism” in Italy
Cali promoted his wife Francesca Albanese’s antisemitic book “J’Accuse” which accuses Israel of “apartheid and neocolonial occupation.” The book’s title, “J’Accuse,” deliberately inverts the historic title of Emile Zola’s manifesto denouncing antisemitism in Dreyfus affair and turns it against Israel as the Jewish State. (November 28, 2023).
Cali: Opponents of His Wife’s Claims are “Flat-Earthers”
Cali shared his wife Francesca Albanese’s RAI News 24 interview in which she talks about the “Israeli colonial and apartheid project.” He called opponents of his wife’s claims “Flat-Earthers” (May 16, 2022).
Cali Shares Petition Demanding ICC Charge Israel with War Crimes
Describing it as an “important petition” Cali used his platform to call for the International Criminal Court to charge Israeli Prime Minister “Benjamin Netanyahu & Israel for War Crimes.” (July 31, 2014).
Cali Cheers End of Palestinian-Israeli Cooperation on Security
Cali celebrated the end of Palestinian Authority security cooperation with Israel – “at long last the Palestinian Authority is gonna stop beating and jailing its own people on behalf of Israeli occupation forces.” (July 26, 2019).
Cali Promotes Roger Waters GoFundMe Campaign Attacking Israel
Cali accuses Israel of “terrorist killings” and “massacres” in its summer 2014 war against Hamas in Gaza in the context of sharing a GoFundMe campaign sponsored by antisemite Roger Waters to support a lawsuit against Israeli officials in a Dutch court. (February 10, 2019).
Cali: Palestinian Knife Stabbings Are “Phantom Attacks,” Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini “On the Side of the Killers”
Minimizes deadly Palestinian terrorism as “phantom attacks of Palestinian kamikaze armed with kitchen knives” which “Israelis sometimes invent” to “justify the carnage” against Palestinians. (February 6, 2019).
Cali:
Accuses Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini of always being “on the wrong side of history,” and at home “in fascist Israel.” (December 13, 2018).
Cali Praised Indonesia’s Government for Rejecting Trade Deal With Australia Over Israel Ties
Cali advocated economic boycotts against “all countries that are supporting Israel.” (November 15, 2018).
Cali Accuses BBC of Bias: “Shame, Shame, Shame”
Cali made light of Palestinian terrorism when he called out the BBC for referring to Palestinian youth — killed while planting bombs — as “terrorists.” saying that instead they should be describes as “3 Palestinian children in the outdoor prison of Gaza.” (October 30, 2018).
Cali Praises Lana Del Ray Boycott of Israel
“Another brick in the wall against the last settler-colonial enterprise” — Cali praised the successful campaign by the anti-Israel Boycott Divestment & Sanctions movement pressuring singer Lana Del Ray to cancel her performance in Israel. (September 1, 2018).
Cali Condemns “Ever-More Shameful BBC” For Hamas Headline, Urges Complaints
Attacks “pro-Israel BBC” for abetting Israel’s “collective punishment” of the Palestinians through its “partisan,” i.e., pro-Israel, reporting. (July 15, 2018).
Cali: Israel is “The Most Terrorist State on Earth,” Says “Sanctions Are the Only Way”
Calls for sanctions against Israel – “the most terrorist state on earth.” (May 29, 2018).
Cali: “Not One Fuxxxing So Called Western Leader” Condemned Israel, “the West’s Last Settler-Colonial Project”
Dismisses Palestinian violence against Israel that was part of the Hamas “March of Return” border riots — the prelude to October 7th — and lashes out at the media for failing to “condemn yet another massacre by the Israeli occupation forces.” (March 31, 2018).
Cali Encouraged Hamas Border Riots That Prepared October 7th Massacre
Cali encouraged the Hamas border riots that were used to prepare for October 7th massacre, praising the “March of Return” participants because they “have the guts to complain about the cramped outdoor prison that Israel forces them to live in.” (March 30, 2018).
Cali False Accuses Israel of Kidnapping Children
Shares article by anti-Israel +972 Magazine that falsely accused Israel of targeting “7 year old Palestinian children by kidnapping them.” (December 14, 2017).
Cali Promotes Boycott Movement Campaigns, Calls to Cancel Italy’s Bike Race in Israel
Shares a BDS post calling for Giro d’Italia bicycle race to “steer clear of apartheid” and not to hold race in Israel. (September 21, 2017).
Cali: “UN Chief Whitewashing Israeli Apartheid”
Cali Accuses UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of whitewashing Israeli “apartheid” by refusing to back controversial UN report accusing Israel of apartheid. (March 20. 2017). In 2024, Guterres apparently called Cali’s wife “a horrible person.”
Cali: Israel’s 2014 War With Hamas Was “Massacre”
Cali accused Israel of “carpet bombing the Gaza Strip” in its summer 2014 war against Hamas and perpetrating a “massacre.” (July 12, 2016).
Cali Defended Palestinian Teen Terrorist
Cali defended a Palestinian teen terrorist who stabbed Israeli soldier as “another Palestinian girl shot in cold blood by the Israeli army.” (October 27, 2015).
Cali: Israel Acts Like “Terrorist Dictatorship”
Cali compares Israel to a “terrorist dictatorship,” attacking Western governments for their alleged complicity. (October 11, 2015).
Cali Attacks U.S. Court, Falsely Equates Palestinian Suicide Bombings With Israel Fighting Hamas Terrorism
Cali falsely equates Palestinian suicide attacks targeting Israeli civilians with Israel’s summer 2014 war against Hamas in Gaza – “my guess is that killing while wearing an Israeli military uniform spares you the hassle of a New York (or any other) court.” (February 25, 2015).
Enraged Cali Compares Israelis to Nazis, “Blows Up” at Italian Newspaper
In a post tagging his wife Albanese, an enraged Cali justifies Hamas indoctrination of Palestinian children to terrorism. He equates a “Jewish minor from the Warsaw Ghetto” to young Palestinian boy “dressed as a military man, clumsily holding a (presumably) fake rifle.” Cali describes his fury and rage—”blowing up”—that the newspaper showed a photo of how Hamas dressed up children as terrorists. In a comment endorsing the post in which she is tagged, Albanese shares his rage, encouraging people to complain to the newspaper. (January 30, 2015).
Albanese also shared the post:
Cali Accuses Israel of “Massacre” and “Terror” for Responding to Hamas Rockets in 2014
Cali accused Israel of a “massacre in Gaza” in its summer 2014 wear against Hamas, citing unverified and inaccurate statistics from PCHR Gaza, a politicized pro-Palestinian NGO that denies Palestinian terrorism. (August 5, 2014).
Cali Promotes Anti-Israel Campaign During Hamas War on Israel
Using the hashtag #StopIsrael, Cali promoted an anti-Israel campaign that falsely characterized Israel’s response to Hamas’s war — in which Hamas attacked Israeli towns with 4,700 missiles, rockets and mortars — as “brutal attacks on Gaza.” (August 1, 2014).
Cali Accuses U.S. of Arming Israel “To Kill More Palestinian Children”
Cali attacks the U.S., falsely characterizing Israel’s response to Hamas firing of 4,7000 missiles, rockets and mortars, as a scheme to “kill more Palestinian children.” (July 31, 2014).
