Why Israel’s UNRWA ban may backfire

It is hard for any observer to understand or explain the latest Israeli action against the UN Relief and Works Agency. After the state of Israel was established in 1948, it took two years for it to become a full member of the then-nascent UN. Among the key issues that delayed Israel’s induction was the status of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians it had made refugees. For its part, the UN had passed a clear and unambiguous resolution (General Assembly Resolution 194) guaranteeing the right of return of Palestinian refugees and compensation for the losses they incurred. Decades later, in negotiations, Palestinians insisted on Israel recognizing its historic and moral responsibility for having caused the Palestinian refugee crisis.

The US, wanting to ease the terrible humanitarian conditions that Palestinian refugees were facing in tents in countries bordering Israel, helped create UNRWA, which began its operations in 1950. America was the biggest donor to this UN agency until President Donald Trump took power and cut off aid. This action, which has partially continued under the Biden administration due to pro-Israeli pressure in Congress, has whetted the appetite of members of the right-wing Israeli government who have always hoped that the Palestinian refugee issue would simply disappear.

UNRWA has been providing humanitarian aid services to 5.9 million Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It is their primary source of humanitarian support. Its services include the provision of basic needs like education, food, medical care and the distribution of fuel. Its closure may inevitably lead to the collapse of the primary lifeline for Palestinians. It is not a political body and has refrained from any political actions. UNRWA has strictly followed the regularly approved mandate of the UN.

The agency’s mandate, as defined by the UN General Assembly, is to serve “Palestine refugees.” This term was defined in 1952 as any person whose “normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict.” Palestine refugees are both those who fulfill this definition and the descendants of fathers fulfilling the definition.

Members of the right-wing Israeli government have always hoped that the Palestinian refugee issue would simply disappear. 

Daoud Kuttab

For years, Israel and its supporters have zoomed in on this humanitarian agency, trying to bring about its disappearance by pressuring countries not to fund it or by making claims, at times using fabricating stories, about UNRWA or its staff. The latest fabrication — that a few members of its huge local staff were involved in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel — was debunked by a high-level investigation committee set up by the UN secretary-general. A UN inquiry published in April found no evidence of wrongdoing by UNRWA staff, noting that Israel had neither responded to requests for names and information nor “informed UNRWA of any concrete concerns relating to UNRWA staff since 2011.”

But despite failing to convince the world of its accusations and despite pressure from Israel’s allies not to approve the ban, 92 of the 120-seat Knesset’s members on Monday voted in favor of banning UNRWA from working in Israel and 87 backed a ban on state authorities from having any contact with the agency, effectively crippling its ability to operate in the Occupied Territories.

The foreign ministers of Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and the UK this week criticized the proposed ban, saying it could have “devastating consequences” in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

This move came shortly after Israeli authorities had confiscated the land in East Jerusalem where UNRWA’s headquarters is located. Israel plans to build 1,440 settlement units, which are illegal under international law, on the site.

While the international community, under immense Israeli pressure, debated whether and how much money to commit to this important UN agency, no one expected Israel to act in such a callous manner and vote in its highest legislative chamber to prohibit UNRWA from providing humanitarian aid to needy Palestinians.

What Israel is doing in a conflict it calls an existential war is weakening its own status in the world community. 

Daoud Kuttab

For decades, Israel has demanded that the world, including its enemies, recognize its right to exist. But by banning a UN agency, Israel is weakening its own legitimacy.

Folklore is full of proverbs that apply to what Israel, a UN member state that is obliged to abide by the UN Charter, plans to do to UNRWA. “Do not spit in the well that you drink from” and “do not saw the branch you are sitting on” are two examples that seem to perfectly illustrate the madness of a country that is worried about its own legitimacy acting against the one international agency that gave it license to exist.

What Israel is doing in a conflict it calls an existential war is weakening its own status in the world community. When you steal other people’s land and create a country over their properties, the last thing you want to do is strengthen those who are questioning your own existence.

So, as racist elements in Israel attempt to make the Palestinian refugee problem disappear, this move risks having the opposite effect. As a UN member state that is banning a UN agency, Israel has helped strengthen the demand of its enemies and is forcing the international community to seriously consider its membership of the global body that once gave it recognition.

• Daoud Kuttab is an award-winning Palestinian journalist and former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. X: @daoudkuttab