OPINION:
A version of this story appeared in the daily Threat Status newsletter from The Washington Times. Click here to receive Threat Status delivered directly to your inbox each weekday.
As details emerge about employees from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East actively participating in Hamas’ horrific Oct. 7 attack on Israel, it’s time to face reality: The agency, known as UNRWA, has lost its legitimacy and must be disbanded.
This bloated organization, created in 1949, drifted long ago from its mandate of providing humanitarian and development relief for Palestinians. Reports indicate that for years, UNRWA facilities, including schools, have served as havens for Hamas rockets and tunnels instead of vulnerable Palestinian children.
Many UNRWA teachers have well-documented ties to Hamas and teach antisemitic and anti-Israel content at these schools, clearly violating UNRWA’s neutrality mandate. Thanks to UNRWA, generations of Palestinians have been taught to hate Israel.
Moreover, UNRWA’s management structure and finances are a mess; it can barely maintain a budget, let alone account for its hefty donations.
UNRWA has ceased to be effective, and worse, it violates the first principle of humanitarian aid: Do no harm. The costs of keeping UNRWA around far outweigh the benefits.
As president, Donald Trump recognized UNRWA’s flaws and terminated funding, partially at my urging. Unfortunately, the Biden administration reversed his decision in 2021 and has since provided UNRWA with almost $1 billion. The administration wrongly argued it needed to resume UNRWA funding so the United States could “be at the table” to promote reforms.
What reforms? Nearly four years later, reforms are nonexistent, and UNRWA has plunged deeper into support for terrorism. I take no happiness in saying “I told you so.”
In April 2022, I led 20 of my fellow senators in sending a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the administration to cease assistance to UNRWA until critical reforms are secured. When that was ignored, I led 12 colleagues in introducing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency Accountability and Transparency Act, legislation that would do just that.
The Biden administration often argues that there is a public diplomacy benefit to working through U.N. organizations, including UNRWA. Yet the United States gets no credit for the significant foreign assistance it provides to the Palestinians. The administration is so afraid of attacks on humanitarian deliveries in the Gaza Strip that it does not brand its assistance with the American flag. People in Gaza chant “death to America” while being fed by U.S. taxpayer dollars. This is unacceptable.
The bottom line: UNRWA is beyond redemption. Disbanding the organization is the only solution.
If humanitarian operations in Gaza are to continue, they must be shifted to a different, trusted organization that operates with transparency and accountability. There are a number of other vetted organizations with the capacity to surge their operations. UNRWA needs to end.
A new organization should be established to support vulnerable Palestinians while ensuring funds do not promote extremism. It should be open to comprehensive financial audits conducted by a third party deemed acceptable by both Israel and the Palestinians to ensure independence and fiscal integrity.
At the same time, donors should require increased vetting of all organization employees operating in the region to ensure they do not have ties to a foreign terrorist organization, have not advocated or engaged in any terrorist activity, and have not supported anti-Israel or antisemitic rhetoric.
Donors should also have the opportunity to evaluate textbook content before it is shared in schools rather than after allegations of biased material that incites violence and spreads hate emerge. Further, third-party monitors should be able to conduct unannounced visits to monitor activities in schools and facilities.
These are all reasonable expectations for U.S. taxpayer dollars. It’s past time we stop allowing the outrageous use of our money to fund or incite terrorism. This process must start now, not after the Gaza war. The sooner the international community pivots away from UNRWA, the better off Palestinians and Israelis will be.
• Jim Risch, Idaho Republican, is the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.