Foreign Ministry officials on Sunday warned against legislation being advanced in the Knesset to cut official ties with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, saying Israel's membership in the United Nations could be suspended for violating the body's charter.
The bill, proposed by Likud lawmaker Boaz Bismuth, a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is scheduled for a second and final reading on Monday and has broad support. Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said he was for the legislation, calling UNRWA a "disaster."
Israel revealed the involvement of UNRWA employees in the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7 last year and the identity of another member of the organization who was a Hamas operative in Lebanon.
According to the proposed law, Israel would sever ties with UNRWA, the agency would lose its diplomatic status, its officials would be prohibited from having contact with the agency, its employees would be refused visas, and customs officials would not be able to handle their imported equipment and goods. UNRWA's tax benefits would also be revoked at a later date.
U.S. Ambassador Jack Lew asked opposition party leaders to agree to postpone a vote on the bill until after the November 5 U.S. presidential elections. Bismuth was also asked by members of Netanyahu's coalition to delay the vote.
U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that, if the legislation passes, UNRWA will be unable to continue operating and would then need to raise the issue at the UN General Assembly. "It’s deeply concerning that legislation is being considered in a member state of the United Nations that would fundamentally contradict the principles of the UN Charter,” Guterres wrote in an urgent letter to Netanyahu earlier this month.
"The draft legislation currently under discussion in the Knesset, if passed, could prevent UNRWA from continuing its operations in the occupied Palestinian territories, thereby denying Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank the essential aid and protection that UNRWA has provided them since 1949,” he wrote.
Guterres said UNRWA operates in nearly 400 schools and more than 65 health clinics in the West Bank. providing education to more than 350,000 children and over 5 million medical consultations annually. "UNRWA also provides vital assistance to the poor and social services,” Guterres wrote.
According to the senior Foreign Ministry officials and other professionals, there is no doubt that UNRWA is a corrupt, rogue organization that is part of the problem and not the solution. But despite that, the proposed legislation could be more problematic for Israel than for UNRWA.
"We know there are anti-Israeli elements and Palestinians who are waiting for such legislation to unleash the gates of hell on us," they said. "This would bring Israel to violating the UN charter."
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First published: 12:55, 10.27.24