To Israeli Cheers – but White House Jeers — Israel Moves To Ban UN’s Palestinian Relief Agency Within 90 Days

Israeli lawmakers passed two laws on Monday that could end the work of the main United Nations agency providing aid to people in Gaza by barring it from operating on Israeli soil, severing ties with it and labeling it a terror organization.The laws do not immediately take effect but nevertheless signal a new low for a long-troubled relationship between Israel and the United Nations as well as some of Israel’s international allies.Under the first law, UN’s Relief and Works Agency, the Palestinian refugee “relief” agency, would be banned from conducting “any activity” or providing any service inside Israel. The second law would sever Israel’s diplomatic ties with the agency.The laws risk collapsing the already fragile process for distributing aid in Gaza at a moment when Israel is under increased pressure from the Biden administration to ramp up aid. Israel, however, has alleged that several of Unrwa’s staff members participated in the Hamas attacks last year that triggered the war in Gaza. It also has said hundreds of Unrwa staff have terrorist ties and that it has found Hamas terror assets in or under the agency’s facilities.The agency fired nine employees after an investigation but denied it knowingly helped terrorist groups. Many find the agency’s denials unconvincing. “The law that we passed now is not just another bill. It is a call for justice and a wake up call,” said Israeli lawmaker Boaz Bismuth, who co-sponsored one of the bills. “Unrwa is not an aid agency for refugees. It is an aid agency for Hamas.”The Knesset’s foreign affairs and defense committee chairman Yuli Edelstein, who presented both bills in the plenum, said on Monday, “Unrwa long ago ceased to be a humanitarian aid agency, but in addition to it being an integral supporter of terror and hate, it is an agency that perpetuated poverty and suffering.” He added that “the rationale is simple – in order to survive, Unrwa created demand for the product it provides. The circle of horror ended today, they are out!”The first vote passed 92-10 and followed a fiery debate between supporters of the law and its opponents, mostly members of Arab parliamentary parties. The second law was approved 87-9.An English language account on X for Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel was ready to work with international partners to ensure it “continues to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.” The post did not say how, and it was not immediately clear how the flow of aid would be affected once these bills take effect.Just prior to the Knesset’s passage of the law on Monday, a State Department spokeskman, Matthew Miller, said that the Knesset’s passage of the bill “could have implications under US law.”Because Washington is legally barred from transferring certain weapons to countries that block the delivery of humanitarian assistance, Mr. Miller suggested during a press conference, Israel’s barring the aid agency could lead to restrictions on American military support to Israel.Mr. Miller said that “We continue to urge the government of Israel to pause the implementation of this legislation. We urge them not to pass it at all.”However, as a reporter reminded the spokesperson, the Biden administration actually temporarily halted funding to Unrwa following multiple accounts of its anti-Israeli biases and staffing failures, a move backed by Congress. Mr. Miller stated that the Biden administration thinks that ban should be lifted. As of now, the laws would go into effect 60 to 90 days after Israel’s Foreign Ministry notifies the United Nations, according to the spokesperson of lawmaker Dan Illouz, one of the co-sponsors of one of the laws.In a statement issued Monday night, the UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, said Unrwa would be prevented from doing UN General Assembly-mandated work if the laws are implemented. “There is no alternative to Unwra,” he said.For many in Israel, given the aid agency’s troubled track record and mounting evidence of the weaponization of many in its ranks against Israel, no alternative is a better option than the agency’s present toxic dysfunction.While the White House equivocates, perhaps with a view to the upcoming election, some in Europe quickly rallied to Israel’s side. The head of the Dutch Party for Freedom, Geert Wilders, stated on X Tuesday, “Well done Israel. Terrorists are terrorists, whatever their disguise,” adding, “Never compromise with evil.”

To Israeli Cheers – but White House Jeers — Israel Moves To Ban UN’s Palestinian Relief Agency Within 90 Days

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