The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved on Sunday two bills aimed at ending the activity and privileges in Israel of the [United Nations Relief and Works Agency](https://www.jpost.com/tags/unrwa) (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Both bills are an amalgamation of a larger number of bills proposed by MKs from both the [coalition and the opposition](https://www.jpost.com/tags/knesset).
The first, which combines proposals by MKs Boaz Bismuth (Likud) and Sharren Haskel (United Right), states that the UNWRA will no longer “operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly,” in Israel.
The second bill, which combines proposals by MKs Ron Katz (Yesh Atid), Dan Illouz (Likud), and Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beytenu), states that the treaty between Israel and the UNWRA, signed following the Six Day War in 1967, will expire on October 7, 2024, or as soon as the bill passes its final voting in the Knesset plenum; that no Israeli government agencies or representatives may contact the UNWRA or a representative of it; and that the UNWRA workers will not enjoy immunity or special rights that other UN workers enjoy in Israel, such as immunity from indictment and some tax cuts. It further stipulates that Israel’s National Security Council must report to the committee every two months regarding the bill’s implementation.
The bills were proposed in response to reports that the UNWRA workers had participated in the October 7 massacre and held Israeli hostages captive afterward; that some of its facilities in the Gaza Strip, including schools and medical centers, doubled as ammunition and arms caches; and that its education system included incitement to violence against Israel.
ThisIsRadioClash- on
I’m not too surprised by this. Israel and the UN have never had a good relationship, and recent events have further exacerbated this dynamic, such as UNWRA employee Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin being a Hamas official in Lebanon.
TapTheMic on
Devil’s Advocate
An outright ban on UNWRA may be taking this too far.
What the State of Israel should be doing is holding UNWRA leadership legally accountable for the crimes of those within the organization. The fact of the matter is UNWRA provides services which the P.A. is incapable of doing and which the Israelis have to responsibility to.
What the Israelis should be doing is drawing a line in the sand and establishing ground rules for any UNWRA presence in the territory.
* UNWRA may not inflame ethnic tensions with toxic textbooks filled with antisemitic content. (in fact, require Israeli school books to be used)
* UNWRA may be held criminally/civilly liable for illegal acts taken by members of the UNWRA organization.
* UNWRA will be required to undergo auditing by Israeli officials on the ground to ensure the program is functioning legally within the bounds set by both the UN’s UNWRA charter and Israel’s conditions.
* Israel reserves the right to end their participation in UNWRA and suspend UNWRA special access if they are found to violate these terms.
That would put Israel in the moral position of saying “We understand these people need these services but they will not be offered at the expense of Israeli national security.”
It turns the narrative on its head. The Israelis get to then say **”We absolutely did not ban UNWRA. We simply sent very reasonable and clear conditions for their presence which they refused to agree to. We did not ask for anything unreasonable.”**
ksamim on
The secretary general is already persona non grata, and Israel has been raising the flag on the warning signs of UNRWA since time immemorial. With UNIFIL actively abetting Hezb now, I am not surprised at all that Israel is gonna pull the plug on allowing the UN access to the country at all.
Matt_D_G on
UNRWA misbehavior has been noted for decades, funding stopped by the Trump administration, resumed by the the Biden administration, and later cancelled by the Biden administration. Hamas seems to have more governing power over UNRWA, than UN leadership. The latter is clearly negligent, if not anti-semitic.
Far_Car430 on
The faster, the better.
[deleted] on
[removed]
Sin317 on
UNRWA has no right or reason to exist in the first place. It should all be under the umbrella of the UNHCR.
But the whole UN is rotten from the inside anyway.
It’s time to make something new. Maybe start by not having undemocratic/openly authoritarian countries part of it…
TrenAutist on
UNRWA is a terror group thwy should be banned worldwide.
9 Comments
From the article:
The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved on Sunday two bills aimed at ending the activity and privileges in Israel of the [United Nations Relief and Works Agency](https://www.jpost.com/tags/unrwa) (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Both bills are an amalgamation of a larger number of bills proposed by MKs from both the [coalition and the opposition](https://www.jpost.com/tags/knesset).
The first, which combines proposals by MKs Boaz Bismuth (Likud) and Sharren Haskel (United Right), states that the UNWRA will no longer “operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly,” in Israel.
The second bill, which combines proposals by MKs Ron Katz (Yesh Atid), Dan Illouz (Likud), and Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beytenu), states that the treaty between Israel and the UNWRA, signed following the Six Day War in 1967, will expire on October 7, 2024, or as soon as the bill passes its final voting in the Knesset plenum; that no Israeli government agencies or representatives may contact the UNWRA or a representative of it; and that the UNWRA workers will not enjoy immunity or special rights that other UN workers enjoy in Israel, such as immunity from indictment and some tax cuts. It further stipulates that Israel’s National Security Council must report to the committee every two months regarding the bill’s implementation.
The bills were proposed in response to reports that the UNWRA workers had participated in the October 7 massacre and held Israeli hostages captive afterward; that some of its facilities in the Gaza Strip, including schools and medical centers, doubled as ammunition and arms caches; and that its education system included incitement to violence against Israel.
I’m not too surprised by this. Israel and the UN have never had a good relationship, and recent events have further exacerbated this dynamic, such as UNWRA employee Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin being a Hamas official in Lebanon.
Devil’s Advocate
An outright ban on UNWRA may be taking this too far.
What the State of Israel should be doing is holding UNWRA leadership legally accountable for the crimes of those within the organization. The fact of the matter is UNWRA provides services which the P.A. is incapable of doing and which the Israelis have to responsibility to.
What the Israelis should be doing is drawing a line in the sand and establishing ground rules for any UNWRA presence in the territory.
* UNWRA may not inflame ethnic tensions with toxic textbooks filled with antisemitic content. (in fact, require Israeli school books to be used)
* UNWRA may be held criminally/civilly liable for illegal acts taken by members of the UNWRA organization.
* UNWRA will be required to undergo auditing by Israeli officials on the ground to ensure the program is functioning legally within the bounds set by both the UN’s UNWRA charter and Israel’s conditions.
* Israel reserves the right to end their participation in UNWRA and suspend UNWRA special access if they are found to violate these terms.
That would put Israel in the moral position of saying “We understand these people need these services but they will not be offered at the expense of Israeli national security.”
It turns the narrative on its head. The Israelis get to then say **”We absolutely did not ban UNWRA. We simply sent very reasonable and clear conditions for their presence which they refused to agree to. We did not ask for anything unreasonable.”**
The secretary general is already persona non grata, and Israel has been raising the flag on the warning signs of UNRWA since time immemorial. With UNIFIL actively abetting Hezb now, I am not surprised at all that Israel is gonna pull the plug on allowing the UN access to the country at all.
UNRWA misbehavior has been noted for decades, funding stopped by the Trump administration, resumed by the the Biden administration, and later cancelled by the Biden administration. Hamas seems to have more governing power over UNRWA, than UN leadership. The latter is clearly negligent, if not anti-semitic.
The faster, the better.
[removed]
UNRWA has no right or reason to exist in the first place. It should all be under the umbrella of the UNHCR.
But the whole UN is rotten from the inside anyway.
It’s time to make something new. Maybe start by not having undemocratic/openly authoritarian countries part of it…
UNRWA is a terror group thwy should be banned worldwide.