The Knesset plenum voted Monday evening to approve two bills effectively ending Israel's relationship with UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees. The legislation passed its second and third readings, with two separate bills sponsored by multiple lawmakers prohibiting UNRWA from maintaining any representation, providing services, or conducting activities, either directly or indirectly, within Israel's sovereign territory.
Under the new law, all government representatives will be barred from maintaining contact with UNRWA. The Foreign and Interior ministries will be prohibited from issuing entry visas to UNRWA employees, and customs officials will be unable to process goods imported by the agency. The organization's tax benefits will also be revoked.
The second bill stipulates that Israel will sever all ties with UNRWA, and authorities will cease cooperation with the agency. It will no longer be entitled to the diplomatic privileges it previously enjoyed as well. The legislation follows revelations that the UN body, meant to provide services to Palestinian refugees, employed staff who are suspected of involvement in the surprise attack on Israel, with some allegedly active in Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations.
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein said at the start of the plenary discussion, "During the committee's deliberations on the law, we were shown video evidence of UNRWA personnel involved in transporting a body to the Gaza Strip, along with other evidence of their involvement in terrorism, including the fact that the commander of the massacre at the Reim shelter, where 16 Israelis were killed and four were kidnapped to Gaza, was a UNRWA operative."
"Given this background, and having proved that UNRWA and its employees acted against Israel, the state must determine that UNRWA's activities in its territory will cease," he stated. "To be clear, Israel will provide all services it is obligated to provide to its citizens and residents in all areas where UNRWA operates, in coordination with the Jerusalem municipality. There is no place for enemies in the heart of the Jewish people's capital."
The Im Tirtzu right-wing watchdog, which led the public campaign to end UNRWA's operations in Israel, issued the following statement: "This is a historic moment for Israel and an important moment for the Knesset. Since Israel's establishment, UNRWA has functioned as an incubator of terror incitement instead of caring for Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza. Now the Knesset is finally correcting this distortion... After a year-long struggle, justice has finally prevailed, the people of Israel live!"
