Despite Pressure From Washington, Israel Considers Curtailing UNRWA

Benny Gantz, a leading opposition member of the Israeli Knesset, advocated on October 22 for a vote on two pieces of legislation that would significantly curtail the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. Israel has accused UNRWA staff of participating in the October 7 Hamas massacre and perpetuating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but Washington and the international community are pressuring Israeli leaders to allow the organization to continue its operations.

Established in the wake of Israel’s War of Independence, UNRWA’s mission is to assist displaced Palestinians in Jerusalem, Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Today, the organization has over 30,000 employees and a budget last year of $1.47 billion.

The two bills for which Gantz wants a vote incorporate provisions of several earlier UNRWA-related pieces of legislation and would curtail UNRWA’s services in Gaza, Jerusalem, and the West Bank. The initiatives have already passed second and third readings in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committees and need only a simple majority to pass if Knesset leadership schedules a plenary vote.

The first bill, introduced by Likud Member Boaz Bizmuth, would prohibit UNRWA from operating from withing Israel’s sovereign territory and would evict the organization from its offices in Jerusalem. The second bill, introduced by opposition member Yulia Malinovsky, would cancel special privileges that Israel has afforded to UNRWA since 1967, including guarantees of maintaining UNRWA’s safety, protection, and freedom of movement and tax exemptions. Malinovsky’s bill would also prohibit contact between Israeli government and the UN agency. Both laws require regular reports from Israel’s National Security Council on the new measures’ implementation.

The Knesset’s efforts are a response to UNRWA being compromised by Hamas and other extremists. In January, Israel shared a dossier with the Biden administration documenting 12 UNRWA employees’ participation in the October 7 massacre. Israel also alleges that UNRWA employees trafficked hostages and the bodies of dead Israelis into Gaza. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), 450 UNRWA staff in Gaza are terror operatives. The IDF also uncovered a Hamas tunnel complex beneath UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City.

The United States and other countries paused funding to UNRWA in January in response to Jerusalem’s claims. While other countries have since resumed funding, Congress banned U.S. contributions through March 2025. Despite this ban, UNRWA claims the Biden administration has urged other donor countries to continue funding the organization.

On October 13, Axios published a letter from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to Israeli ministers Yoav Gallant and Ron Dermer that threatened U.S. military assistance to Israel in light of the “dire” humanitarian situation in Gaza. The letter went on to express concern that Israel’s pending UNRWA-related legislation could deepen the crisis in Gaza and deny educational and social services to Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, which “could have implications under relevant U.S. law and policy.”

Despite this threat from Washington, the legislation has strong support across the political spectrum in Israel. In addition to Gantz, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid supports the legislation, as do up to 100 members of the 120-person Knesset.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a longtime critic of UNRWA, his party controls the Knesset schedule, and it is unclear whether he will allow the vote to take place, due to fears not only of the United States withholding weapons from Israel, but also of repercussions within the United Nations.

Given UNRWA’s manifest failure to prevent Hamas and other extremists from exploiting the organization, Washington should work closely with its Israeli ally to establish alternatives to UNRWA. With Washington’s support, USAID, the World Food Program, the World Health Organization, and other organizations can provide much-needed services to Palestinians without also providing a haven for terror.

Enia Krivine is the senior director of the Israel Program and the National Security Network at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Enia and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Enia on X at @EKrivine. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.