UNRWA’s Refusal to Accept Israeli Sovereignty Will Harm the Palestinians
Institute for Contemporary Affairs
Founded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation
- Israeli authorities found that more than 2,135 UNRWA employees were also terrorists in either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). One-fifth of UNRWA school administrators were Hamas terrorists, and 10% of the senior positions (school principals and their deputies, directors, and deputy directors of training centers) were members of Hamas or PIJ.
- UNRWA’s facilities in Gaza had been turned into terror bases. Hamas had dug extensive tunnels under UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City in which they placed one of their main computer server farms. The electricity for the computers, as well as water, came directly, and in plain sight, from within UNRWA’s headquarters.
- Having concluded that UNRWA had lost all credibility and morphed into a vassal of the terrorists, Israel’s Knesset passed laws on Oct. 28, 2024, to end Israel’s June 1967 invitation to UNRWA to operate in Israel, Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. The laws will come into full force on January 30, 2025.
- For 76 years, UNRWA has served as the primary vehicle for perpetuating the lie that the “Palestine refugees” will one day demographically and democratically destroy Israel. Under UNRWA, the number of “Palestine refugees” has swelled from 711,000 in 1949 to six million in 2023.
- Despite having been given sufficient notice, terror-infested UNRWA is refusing to wrap up its operations and transfer its functions to other actors. It would seem that UNRWA believes it can force itself upon Israel, irrespective of the new legislation.
- However, by acting in this manner, UNRWA is doing a disservice to the people to whom it provides services. The international community would be wise to find suitable alternatives.
The active participation of employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the October 7, 2023, massacre opened a Pandora’s box. Delving into the details, Israeli authorities revealed that more than 2,135 UNRWA employees were also terrorists in either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).1 One-fifth of UNRWA school administrators were Hamas terrorists,2 and 10% of the senior positions (school principals and their deputies, directors, and deputy directors of training centers) were members of Hamas or PIJ.3 The ground operations in Gaza further revealed that UNRWA’s facilities in Gaza had also been turned into terror bases. Under UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City, Hamas had dug extensive tunnels in which they placed one of their main computer server farms. The electricity for the computers, as well as water, came directly, and in plain sight, from within UNRWA’s headquarters.
Having concluded that UNRWA had lost all credibility and morphed into a vassal of the terrorists, Israel took decisive action. Pushed by legislators, on October 28, 2024, the Knesset passed two complementary laws.
The “Law to Cease the Operations of UNRWA in the Territory of the State of Israel”4provides that UNRWA will be banned from having any representative branch, will not provide services, and will not conduct any operations, directly or indirectly, in Israel’s sovereign territory.
The “Law to Cease the Operations of UNRWA”5 stipulated that Israel’s June 1967 invitation6 to UNRWA to operate in Israel, Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, would end, symbolically, exactly one year after the massacre on October 7, 2024. To meet formal requirements, Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs was required to inform the UN of the decision. The main operative clause of the law added, “A government authority, including other bodies and individuals performing public duties according to law, shall not have any contact with UNRWA or anyone acting on its behalf.”
Both laws provided that they would come into full force three months after their publication. Since the laws were published in the Official Gazette on October 30, 2024, they are set to come into full force on January 30, 2025.
For 76 years, UNRWA has served as the primary vehicle for perpetuating the lie that the “Palestine refugees” will one day demographically and democratically destroy Israel. As opposed to all other refugees around the world, including but not limited to the millions of Jewish refugees created as a result of WWII and thereafter the mass expulsions of Jews from the Arab countries after the establishment of Israel, whose number gradually decreased after their resettlement, under UNRWA the number of “Palestine refugees” has swelled from their original 711,000 in 1949 to an over-inflated and unreliable8 six million in 2023. The Palestinian leadership adopted UNRWA, turning the so-called “right of return” of the “Palestine refugees” into a sacred cow, to be weaponized against Israel and as a means to justify refusing repeated offers of peace.
While UNRWA’s hostility towards Israel, its warped school curriculum that contains open incitement to terror, and the denial of Israel’s right to exist were all well-documented and were known before the massacre, Israel chose to turn a blind eye for decades. That changed with the events of October 7, 2023, and the ever-increasing exposure of the extent of the terror infiltration into the ranks of the agency.
UNRWA operates in Israel, Gaza, Judea, and Samaria at the invitation of Israel. Following the request, Israel provided UNRWA with a status similar to that of other UN organizations. These special privileges include substantial tax exemptions, special UNRWA-registered vehicles, and foreign staff. Israel even turned a blind eye to building infractions in UNRWA’s main logistical compound in Jerusalem.
The legislation, passed by the Knesset, to which the government must adhere, is very clear: As of January 30, 2025, UNRWA will no longer be able to function in Israel, Gaza, Judea, or Samaria. The agency will no longer enjoy tax exemptions or other trappings associated with being a recognized organization.
Despite having been given sufficient notice, terror-infested UNRWA is refusing to wrap up its operations and transfer its functions to other actors. By its actions, it would seem that UNRWA believes that it can force itself upon Israel, irrespective of the new legislation.
To achieve this goal, UNRWA, with the assistance of the Palestinian Authority, the PLO, and other international actors, is running a UN-funded global disinformation campaign, claiming that UNRWA is indispensable.
UNRWA forgets that in 2017, the Palestinian Authority, and not Israel, severed all ties with the agency. At the time, UNRWA had claimed that the PA curriculum fundamentally breached its duty of neutrality as a UN organization and demanded amendments. The PA rejected the demands until UNRWA eventually capitulated.
As opposed to the dictatorial PA, Israel is a functioning democracy that respects the rule of law.
While UNRWA may try to manipulate public opinion, the agency, the UN, and the international community should have no misinterpretation. Israel will enforce its new laws to their full extent.
By refusing to accept this reality and smoothly pass its functions onto an appropriate alternate body, UNRWA is again doing a disservice to the people to whom it provides services. Whether UNRWA likes it or not, by the end of January 2025, UNRWA will cease to function in Israel, Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. The international community would be wise to find suitable alternatives.
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