“Protecting the freedom of speech is ‘always’ in the public interest,” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrote in a 26-page opinion accompanying the order.
Albanese has become one of the most polarizing international figures linked to the conflict in Gaza. In her role at the U.N., she authored a report accusing major U.S. corporations of complicity in what she described as Israel’s “ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza.”
When Washington sanctioned her in July 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Albanese of having “spewed unabashed antisemitism” and expressed support for terrorism and contempt for the U.S., Israel and the West.
The Israeli mission to the U.N. in Geneva also denounced her in March as “an agent of chaos,” accusing her of “virulent antisemitism” and support for extremist narratives. Albanese has repeatedly denied accusations of antisemitism, while her husband and daughter sued the Trump administration earlier this year over the sanctions.
The move comes amid widening European criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
On Wednesday, both Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez blasted Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over the treatment of Flotilla activists detained while attempting to break the naval blockade of Gaza.
Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people in Israel, a large majority of whom were civilians, and taking 251 hostages. The attack prompted a major Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them civilians, displaced 90 percent of Gaza’s population and destroyed wide areas. The ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump in October 2025 led to the release of the remaining 20 Israeli hostages.