Lawmakers behind UNRWA ban dismiss international criticism as ‘misplaced’
There’s ‘plenty of transition time’ for other groups to replace the UN agency for Palestinians, says Likud MK Illouz, adding that ‘our goal is not to stop the humanitarian aid’
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The Knesset’s overwhelming approval earlier this week of twin laws barring UNRWA from operating in Israel and reducing its ability to work in the West Bank and Gaza sparked a firestorm of criticism, with Israel’s closest allies warning that curtailing the United Nations agency’s activities risks “catastrophe” for millions of Palestinians. But for the lawmakers behind the legislation, the outrage seems to have been met with a collective shrug.
During the opening plenum session of the Knesset’s winter legislative session on Monday, MKs voted 92 to 10 to approve a law prohibiting the UN agency from operating in Israeli territory, and 87-9 in favor of another measure banning state authorities from having any contact with the agency.
“There are internationally recognized organizations that deal with humanitarian aid in all conflict zones. UNRWA was an anomaly. It doesn’t exist in any other conflict zone that there’s a specific organization just for one group,” Likud MK Dan Illouz, a co-sponsor of the second bill, told The Times of Israel when asked about the pushback his law engendered.
“We’ve seen that what happens when such an organization gets built is that it ends up being an organization that has the perspective of one group, the Palestinian perspective. It gets embedded with groups like Hamas and extremist groups from that society and becomes a problem,” he said.
“Our goal is not to stop the humanitarian aid. Our goal is for it to go through channels that are not pro-terror, pro-Hamas, but rather through channels like World Food Program.”
UNRWA — short for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East — provides education, health care and aid to millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Israel alleges that more than 10 percent of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza have ties to terrorist factions, and that educational facilities under the organization’s auspices incite hatred of Israel and glorify terror.
“Implementing the legislation risks catastrophe for the more than 3 million Palestinians who rely on UNRWA for essential services, including health care, and primary and secondary education,” the State Department said following the passage of the bills, urging Israel to “further consider implementation of this legislation.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has gone so far as to caution that critical US military support for Israel is conditional on Israel facilitating, and not hindering, the supply of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
On Monday, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres called on Israel to “act consistently with its obligations under the Charter of the
UN and international law,” arguing that “national legislation cannot alter those obligations.”
In response, Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky, one of the main drivers behind the bill to ban contact with UNRWA, argued that the only obligation Israel had to allow the agency to operate was an exchange of letters from 1967, “which includes a clause allowing Israel to terminate this arrangement—and that’s exactly what we did.”
“The story of UNRWA here in the State of Israel is over,” she wrote.
Hello, UN Secretary-General. These are your colleagues from UNRWA who abducted the body of Yonatan Samerano on October 7th. Oh, and they did it using a UN vehicle. Yesterday, we brought a small measure of justice to Yonatan’s parents by severing all ties between the aid agency… https://t.co/5W6ilrIZsW pic.twitter.com/LTlXSI6yGt
— Yulia Malinovsky יוליה מלינובסקי (@YuliaMalinovsky) October 29, 2024
In a seeming response to the international criticism, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has said Israel is prepared to work with international partners, both in the 90 days before the legislation takes effect and afterward, to ensure that humanitarian aid would still reach Gazan civilians.
“UNRWA workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable. Since avoiding a humanitarian crisis is also essential, sustained humanitarian aid must remain available in Gaza now and in the future,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement issued in English.
Asked if three months is enough to allow for other groups to take over, MK Illouz argued that it constitutes “plenty of transition time.”
“Three months is a long time. Sometimes when we understand that there’s a need for a buffer, we put it in the legislation,” he said.
While Israel has worked to gradually limit UNRWA’s role in the delivery of humanitarian aid, in favor of the World Food Program, UNICEF and other agencies, UNRWA is still heavily involved in the Strip’s humanitarian operation, running shelters, clinics and warehouses.
And despite pledges by Netanyahu and the Foreign Ministry to make sure that the flow of aid remains uninterrupted, representatives of the International Organization for Migration and UNICEF have both stated that they would be unable to fill the gap left behind when UNRWA has to cut back or halt operations in Gaza.
Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, the sponsor of the bill banning UNRWA from operating on Israeli territory, was also dismissive of international criticism, stating that the bill would not have passed if it hadn’t become clear that Israel could step into the breach in East Jerusalem.
“In Israel, I can guarantee that there will not be a vacuum,” he said. “This isn’t a banana republic.”
Asked about Gaza, he replied that the international community’s concern was “misplaced.” Israel is not interested in conquering or settling Gaza but rather in “building something that will contribute to stability and security and then can even speak about peace,” Bismuth said, arguing that the international community would come through in filling the void.
“The important international actors are aware of the fact that you need to work urgently to find a replacement for UNRWA. It’s not ‘much ado about nothing,'” he said. “There is a concern.” But it can be handled, he asserted, calling on Israel’s allies and neighbors in the United States, Europe and the Middle East to pitch in on replacing UNRWA.
“Our interest is that as soon as possible there will be a prosperous Gaza ruled by a non-corrupt and especially non-terror government,” Bismuth added, arguing that allowing Hamas to hijack UNRWA aid doesn’t advance that goal.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
