Knesset advances bills to shut down UNRWA in Israel, declare it terror group
Bipartisan Israeli lawmakers on Monday passed the first readings of three bills seeking to designate the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees as a terrorist group, cancel the legal immunity of its staff members and bar it from operating from Israeli soil altogether.
Israelis protest against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) outside one of its offices in Jerusalem, March 20, 2024. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
The pieces of legislation will now be sent back to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee for preparation for the second and third readings necessary for the bills to become law, the Knesset announced.
The Bill for Cutting Off the State of Israel’s Relations with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and Declaring it a Terrorist Organization passed 50-10.
The second bill—the United Nations Immunities and Privileges Ordinance (Revoking the Immunities and Privileges of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East)—received support from 63 lawmakers; six MKs voted against.
The third piece of legislation, the Bill for Stopping the Activity of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), passed the first reading with a vote of 58-8.
The latter bill’s explanatory notes state that “since it has been proven to the State of Israel that UNRWA and its employees participate and are involved in terrorist activity against Israel, it is proposed to determine that Israel will work to stop all of the agency’s activities within its territory.”
Opposition MK Sharren Haskel (New Hope-National Right), who initiated the proposal, together with coalition MK Boaz Bismuth (Likud), said: “When I realized that UNRWA was a cornerstone of the Arab conflict here in the land of Israel, I already understood that a change was needed.
“Their education system teaches the children radical Islam and racism,” Haskel told the Knesset. “We must realize that a parallel organization and other alternatives must be found, and this must be expressed in a clear and definitive manner to the international community.”
Yisrael Beiteinu Party MK Yulia Malinovsky, the driving force behind the bill to declare UNRWA a terrorist group, said in remarks published by the Knesset: “The fact that we succeeded in joining hands, coalition and opposition is a significant statement for the government. We did a wonderful job together with all the partners on these bills. All the excessive morality ended on Oct. 7. UNRWA is a terrorist organization, and not only in Jerusalem. It is a fifth column within the State of Israel. And not just municipal property tax benefits—everything should be revoked from them.”
Earlier this month, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office slammed UNRWA after Jerusalem’s Foreign Ministry published more evidence that the aid agency is employing hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.
“Israel has told donor countries that hundreds more of UNRWA’s 13,000 local staff are active Hamas terrorists, including school teachers,” Prime Minister’s Office Public Diplomacy Directorate spokesman David Mencer told reporters on July 11.
“We have provided much evidence that UNRWA works hand-in-hand with Hamas,” Mencer added, referring to the Hamas server farm found under UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters, the UNRWA staffers who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre and the tunnels underneath UNRWA schools.
“UNRWA is useless at aid distribution. UNRWA is useless at education, except glorifying suicide bombers and encouraging Jew-killing, and Israel sees no role whatsoever for UNRWA in Gaza after this war ends,” he said.
