Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday asked visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to stop transferring funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, a body that supports Palestinian refugees.
After the U.S. announced it would cut off its funding, Germany declared it would "significantly" increase its donation to the U.N. body that had to date relied mainly on American money.
Israeli officials have been trying to persuade additional countries to stop funding the agency, and on Thursday Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely raised the matter at a meeting between the German delegation and Israeli government officials in Jerusalem.
"Those labeled 'Palestinian refugees' are the only refugees in the world who have been inheriting this refugee status for five generations," she said.
Netanyahu echoed Hotovely's sentiments, telling the German leader: "Both Israel and Germany have absorbed and rehabilitated millions of refugees throughout the years, and didn't perpetuate their refugee status like the Palestinians are doing. We want a change."
The prime minister added that UNRWA should be shut down and that the designated donation funds should be transferred to the Palestinian Authority.
In September, the Foreign Ministry issued a report on UNRWA, stating that "Instead of providing social aid, UNRWA exacerbates the conflict by inflating the number of fake refugees, instilling a narrative of hatred and undermining Israel's right to exist and maintaining ties with Hamas."
"In practice, there are very few Palestinians who meet the legal requirements to be eligible for refugee status. Only a few tens of thousands of the 5.4 million registered beneficiaries are actual refugees," the report said.
At a joint press briefing, Merkel and Netanyahu said they disagreed on several issues, but both emphasized the excellent relationship between the two countries.
