UNRWA-US chief denounces Israel's ad campaign against UN agency as 'destructive' and spreading misinformation

Israel holds UNRWA responsible for educating individuals to commit acts or terrorism against Israelis and Jews

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UNRWA-USA Chief Mara Kronenfeld sharply criticized an Israeli ad campaign seeking to defund the agency by highlighting the involvement of several of its workers in anti-Israel activism and outright terrorism.

For years, the State of Israel has maintained that UNRWA, the United Nations agency officially tasked with managing Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, has been promoting hatred and violence against the Jewish state.

In its recent advertisement, “UNRWA Educating Terrorists Since 1949,” Israel held the controversial UN agency directly responsible for extremism and terrorism against Israel and Jews.

The advertisement highlights the significant number of anti-Israel individuals and terrorists who received their education through the UNRWA-led system in the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria (West Bank).

Israel's ad campaign seeks to defund UNRWA, arguing that the organization contributes to the problem rather than facilitating a solution to the ongoing Middle East conflict.

However, UNRWA-USA Chief Mara Kronenfeld slammed Israel's campaign.

“There is an incredibly powerful campaign to dismantle UNRWA,” Kronenfeld stated. “I want the public to know what’s happening and the insidious nature of it, especially at a time when civilian lives are under attack in Gaza,” she added.

Kronenfeld, who heads a seven-person staff in the United States, claimed that Israel is running a misinformation campaign against UNRWA. However, in August, the UN admitted that some UNRWA employees likely participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion and attack on Israel.

“For nine people, the evidence was sufficient to conclude that they may have been involved in the seventh of October attacks,” UN representative Farhan Haq stated.

In January, the United States, Japan and several European nations temporarily suspended financial aid to UNRWA after Israel provided evidence that some UNRWA officials participated in the Oct. 7 attack.

Earlier this year, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant revealed the names of 12 UNRWA workers who took part in the Oct. 7 atrocities. Furthermore, Israeli intelligence has estimated that at least 12% of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza have affiliations with Hamas and other terrorist organizations.

Following pressure from the United States and other Western nations, the UN claimed it would investigate the problematic ties between its UNRWA agency and the terrorist organization Hamas.

However, in April, a presumably independent panel stated: “Israel made public claims that a significant number of UNRWA employees are members of terrorist organisations. However, Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence of this.”

The purpose of the highly politicized report was to restore humanitarian aid to UNRWA, a goal largely realized as the U.S. and other Western nations resumed financial aid to UNRWA soon after.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry quickly blasted the report for ignoring the strong ties between Hamas and UNRWA.

"Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA so deeply that it is no longer possible to determine where UNRWA ends and where Hamas begins. More than 2,135 UNRWA workers are members of either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), while one-fifth of UNRWA school administrators are Hamas members," the Israeli ministry stated.