Just and long overdue: Israel banning UNRWA is a crucial step to solving the conflict

On Monday evening, the Israeli Knesset overwhelmingly voted to outlaw the operations of UNRWA (the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) on Israeli territory and severely curtail its activities in Gaza, Judea and Samaria.

While the dramatic step was widely condemned by the United Nations, the U.S., and several other states – we at ALL ISRAEL NEWS condone it wholeheartedly.

Shuttering UNRWA might harm some Palestinians in the short run, but it will finally force the situation to change – and it can only change for the better.

Instead of resolving the issue of Palestinian refugees, which has been simmering since 1948, UNRWA has perpetuated, and in many ways, exacerbated the problem.

Over the course of the war, Israel has repeatedly released information showing the deep connection between UNRWA and Palestinian terrorism, both in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, and even in Lebanon.

For example, in February, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant revealed the names of 12 UNRWA workers involved in the Oct. 7 attack.

In March, the IDF released recordings of four UNRWA workers involved in the massacre, as well as the abduction of Israelis.

Then in July, the Israeli Foreign Ministry sent a letter to the UNRWA chief with the names of over 100 terrorists employed by the agency.

In addition, Israeli hostages released during the November deal with Hamas reportedly testified in December 2023 that a UNRWA teacher cooperated with the terror group by holding hostages in captivity.

Not only were individual UNRWA employees exposed for their participation in Hamas’ invasion and massacre on Oct. 7 of last year, but the IDF has repeatedly provided evidence of UNRWA buildings in Gaza being used for terror activities.

IDF soldiers recently provided details of a high-risk military operation targeting a 14-story UNRWA building that served as a terror base.

The links above are but a few examples of articles we have covered on ALL ISRAEL NEWS regarding UNRWA’s terror connections. Even more can be found here.

The ongoing Gaza War has brought the very worst of the UN agency's actions into the light, showing the ugly truth for the world to see – and yet, many still want to close their eyes.

UNRWA was founded as one of many temporary UN agencies dealing with refugee problems after World War II, similar to the UN Korean Reconstruction Agency (UNKRA), for example.

UNKRA took some two million Korean refugees – three times the number of Arab refugees – and resettled them in a span of 3-4 years, with only one-third of the funding that UNRWA has had.

With the refugees successfully settled in new homes – not “refugee camps” – UNKRA was disbanded after only a couple of years.

On the other hand, UNRWA created for the Palestinians the new identity of permanent “refugees,” even making the status inheritable – a unique phenomenon worldwide.

This allowed the number of UNRWA-dependent Palestinians to grow from several hundred thousand in 1948 to around 5.6 million people today. There is no comparable situation among refugee populations around the world, all of which are being dealt with by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), except for the Palestinians.

The fact that millions of Palestinians are still dependent on the agency for food, medicine and education is not an argument for its existence – it is exactly the reason why it should be disbanded.

This situation hasn’t developed organically, nor has it resolved the refugee status of the Palestinians, as the UNKRA did for its Korean refugees.

UNRWA has been actively made into a cudgel to be swung against Israel at will.

The perpetuation and escalation of the refugee problem were carried out as a conscious effort to use the Palestinians and their ostensible “right of return” – another unique idea among worldwide refugee problems – as a constant demographic threat against the Jewish state.

The perpetuation of so-called “refugee camps” across the region for over 75 years is a historic farce and has educated generations of children to hate Israel and desire its destruction while preventing the integration of Palestinians into their host societies.

It is Israel’s moral obligation to take a stand against an openly hostile organization that is collaborating with terrorists and educates its dependents with hatred against Israel, first and foremost, for the security of Israel’s citizens.

As UNRWA will continue to exist in the neighboring countries, we also hope that Israel’s decision will further increase international scrutiny of the group’s activities and expose more wrongdoing, corruption and mismanagement.

This should also send a strong message of accountability to all international organizations.

In fact, coupled with recent actions by the UN general secretary in Russia that were widely condemned, we hope that the world will begin to see the many failures of the United Nations and start to correct them – here in Israel, we have known all about them for years.

For example, it is a known phenomenon that not just UNRWA but many other “international” organizations active in the region have abandoned any attempt to represent even the neutral stance of most Western countries calling for a two-state solution to the conflict.

Instead, they were completely won over by the Palestinian narrative of the conflict and are now tools calling for Israel’s destruction.

Israel, in effect, has now asserted that UNRWA – and by extension, the whole refugee complex – will not be part of any future solution to the conflict.

While Israel can recognize that mistakes were made during its War of Independence, the fates of the millions of Palestinian “refugees” now lie in the countries they have inhabited for three, four or five generations – and are not Israel’s responsibility.

We are not proposing to ignore the dire situation faced by millions of Palestinians defined as refugees, but rather address the problems head-on – something UNRWA has failed to do. To do that, Palestinians must be given rights in their host nations and not be denigrated by the UN for their perpetual refugee status.

It is also important to note that when the Jewish people were exiled to Babylon during biblical times – a similar situation to the Koreans and Palestinians driven out of their homes by war – God told the people through the prophet Jeremiah to seek the good of Babylon, the city where they lived.

“Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare,” he wrote (Jeremiah 29:7).

UNRWA has done the opposite. It has taught generations of Palestinians to seek to turn their host countries into enemies of Israel and instruments in the effort to destroy the Jewish state.

In doing so, UNRWA has often made life worse for the Palestinian “refugees” it is supposed to be helping.

In this regard, Israel’s decision is a historic opportunity for these Palestinians to reject this false narrative of perpetual victimhood and begin to demand rights and privileges in the nations where they live, as all other refugee groups have done since World War II.

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he,” reads Proverbs 23:7 (KJV).

We call on the Israeli government, as well as other nations who purportedly seek justice for the Palestinian people, to work toward this solution.

We at ALL ISRAEL NEWS see the stance described above as informed by the words of the Bible. “By their fruit, you will recognize them,” reads Matthew 7:16, and it is now clear that UNRWA’s tree is rotten to the core.

Our stance against UNRWA should not be interpreted as anti-Palestinian. We speak out on this matter not only for the sake of Israel’s security but also for the sake of the Palestinians themselves. We desire to see them integrated into their host countries according to the patterns of other refugee groups in modern history.

Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA’s operations is an important step in this direction.

Given our support for the ban, however, it is fair to ask what then should be done.

While this is a complicated issue beyond the scope of this column, two key points are worth noting.

First, humanitarian aid must continue to reach Palestinians in Gaza as the conflict with Hamas persists. We support the Israeli government’s efforts to explore alternative solutions to replace UNRWA, such as this recent proposal.

Second, we acknowledge the need to find a long-term political solution, not only for Gaza but also for Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.

We pray for wisdom for our leaders and seek God’s guidance.