Knesset Takes Action to Ban UNRWA From Operating In Israel

Israel's Knesset passed a pair of bills on Monday evening to end the permission for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to operate in Israel and limiting its operations in the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria. The move follows several years in which UNRWA has been accused of cooperating with Hamas culminating in evidence that several UNRWA employees directly participated in the October 7th, 2023 massacre of Israelis.

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman MK Yuli Edelstein presented the bills to be voted on, declaring that “UNRWA long ago ceased to be a humanitarian aid agency, but in addition to it being an integral supporter of terror and hate, is an agency to eternalize poverty and suffering. 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 bill, which passed into law by a vote of 92-10, declares that UNRWA will no longer “operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly,” in Israel.

The second bill, which passed by a vote of 87-9, declares that the treaty between Israel and UNRWA, signed following the Six Day War in 1967, will expire within seven days of the bill passing its final voting in the Knesset plenum; that no Israeli government agencies or representatives may contact UNRWA or a representative of it, beginning three months after the bill passes; that criminal proceedings into UNRWA employees’ involvement in acts of terror will continue; and that Israel’s National Security Council must report to the committee every six months regarding the bill’s implementation.

Plans are already underway for the Jerusalem Ministry to take over UNRWA's provision of healthcare, sanitation and education in the neighborhoods of eastern Jerusalem.

The ministry said that “It should be noted that that process consists of two waves, one directed at the short term and the other at the long term. As the ministry that is responsible for coordinating the government decision to find alternatives to UNRWA, and alongside the Education and Health ministries and the Jerusalem Municipality, we are prepared to provide a solution so that there will not be a single child without an educational framework at the stage of the bill’s implementation, and no person will be left without an alternative health framework.”

International Pressure Against Bills Proved Ineffective

The bills passed into law despite a large international outcry against them, including a joint statement by the Foreign Ministry's of several of Israel's allies from Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the UK. The statement said, in part, that “It is crucial that UNRWA and other UN organizations and agencies be fully able to deliver humanitarian aid and their assistance to those who need it most, fulfilling their mandates effectively.”

The US State Department also expressed its displeasure at the bills, and some governments have even brought up the possibility of ejecting Israel from the United Nations General Assembly.