The Knesset plenum approved Monday evening in its second and third readings a law to cut official ties with and halt the activity of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, some of whose operators are suspected of participating in the massacres on October 7. The law passed by a vote of 92-10.
Under the new law, UNRWA will not "operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly," in the sovereign territory of Israel. In effect, UNRWA's activities in East Jerusalem will be terminated and the body's powers will be transferred to Israel's responsibility and control.
Israel revealed the involvement of UNRWA employees in the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023 and the identity of another member of the organization who was a Hamas operative in Lebanon. Others are active in both Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee Yuli Edelstein said at the beginning of the debate in the plenary: "As part of the committee's discussions on the law, a video was shown that proves the involvement of UNRWA personnel in kidnapping a body to the Gaza Strip and other evidence of their activity in Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. In addition, the person who commanded the massacre in the Be'eri bomb shelter, where 16 Israelis were murdered and from which four were kidnapped to Gaza, was a UNRWA terrorist."
"In light of this, and since it has been proven to the State of Israel that UNRWA and its employees acted against the State of Israel, the State must determine that UNRWA's activities in its territory will be stopped," Edelstein also said. "The State of Israel will provide every service it is obligated to provide to its citizens and residents in all those places where UNRWA operated, coordinated by the Jerusalem Municipality. There is no place for enemies in the heart of the capital of the Jewish people."
One of the law's author's, Likud lawmaker Boaz Bismuth, said UNRWA's work has been counterproductive for years. "If you really want stability, if you really want security, if you want real peace in the Middle East, organizations like UNRWA won't bring you there," said Bismuth.
"If the United Nations is not willing to clean this organization from terrorism, from Hamas activists, then we have to take measures to make sure that they cannot harm our people ever again," lawmaker Sharren Haskel, another author of the law, said. "The international community could have taken responsibility and made sure that they used the proper organizations to facilitate humanitarian aid, like the World Food Organization, like UNICEF, and many others who work all around the world."
During the voting, Kobi Samerano, the father of Jonathan Samerano, who was murdered on October 7 and whose body was kidnapped into Gaza by a UNRWA worker, was present in the plenum.
Despite the broad support for the legislation, both the coalition and the opposition voiced concern among that the vote or implementation would be delayed because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been under great pressure in recent weeks from both the United Nations and the United States, due to the lack of an alternative body that would provide a humanitarian response for the Palestinians in Gaza.
On Sunday, senior officials in the Foreign Ministry warned that if the legislation stating that ties with UNRWA must be severed is passed in the second and third readings in the Knesset Israel would be suspended from the United Nations, since this is a violation of the organization's charter.
The foreign ministers of Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Great Britain issued a joint statement Monday before the vote calling on Israel to stop the legislation, expressing "grave concern," especially in light of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. "UNRWA provides vital and life-saving humanitarian assistance and basic services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and throughout the region," the statement reads. "This will have devastating consequences on an already difficult humanitarian situation, which is rapidly deteriorating, especially in northern Gaza."
IDF operations at UNRWA HQ in Gaza City
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Washington "has made it clear to Israel that it is very concerned about the legislation that could ban the agency's activities in the Gaza Strip, because it plays a role in providing irreplaceable humanitarian aid. The humanitarian aid does not reach the residents of Jabaliya, where the IDF has increased its activity, and the U.S. will not agree to that."
In recent days, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew and officials at the embassy have appealed to Yesh Atid Chairman and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, Yisrael Beitenu Party head Avigdor Liberman, and Nastional Unity party head Benny Gantz, with a request that they agree to postpone the advancement of the legislation at least until after the U.S. presidential elections. Lapid reportedly told U.S. officials that he disagreed with them and that the law is correct and appropriate, leading Liberman and Gantz to also reject the U.S officials' request.
Knesset members from the Arab Hadash-Ta'al party objected, and Knesset member Ahmed Tibi said: "Those who support this bill are those who do not recognize the Palestinian people. It is not new that people here in the Knesset ask to stop the activities of UNRWA .There will be no need for UNRWA when the occupation ends and a Palestinian state is established."
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