Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Thursday slammed the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as one of the most "corrupt" and "counterproductive" agencies on the international stage.
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"The Palestinian aid agency, UNRWA, is among the most corrupt and counterproductive of all UN agencies. President [Donald] Trump was right to abandon it," Haley tweeted on Thursday.
"President [Joe] Biden is wasting millions of American tax dollars and undermining the great progress being made on Middle East peace," she added, referring to the White House's recent decision to restore millions of dollars in aid to the organization.
Following the move on Wednesday, UNWRA said it welcomed the resumption of American aid, totaling some $235 million, which had mostly been suspended by Trump in 2018.
"American aid to the Palestinian people serves the interests and values of the United States. It provides crucial assistance to those in need, promotes economic development, and supports Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, security coordination, and peace," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Its decision to earmark $150 million of that for UNRWA drew particular anger from Israel, which argues that the agency serves to perpetuate the idea of a Palestinian refugee problem in a way that undermines the Jewish state.
"We believe that this UN agency for so-called 'refugees' should not exist in its current format," Israeli Ambassador to the United States Gilad Erdan said.
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Trump's decision to sever all aid had left an enormous hole in UNRWA's finances.
Around 40 countries initially helped fill the gap, but contributions have since diminished and the pandemic has also taken a financial toll on donor countries.
The new US aid pledge is still well below the $355 million contributed to UNRWA in 2016 by the United States, then its largest contributor.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
