Boo! Does Israel need the U.N.?

Israel is about to dump UNRWA, and good riddance.

I am well aware it’s Halloween, my least favorite holiday. I will spare you my normal screed against the holiday, but if you care to read, it’s here and here. The world is scary enough without adding more darkness to it. But I’m willing to take a break from election talk today. Tomorrow, we plan to publish (under David’s byline, since he put it together) our electoral maps, from The Racket News™ writers. You won’t want to miss that with your Friday coffee.

Today’s topic is Israel and the U.N. I promise to keep it short.

If you haven’t yet heard, the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, has voted to pass two bills banning UNRWA, the agency responsible for helping Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank. That is all the agency is responsible for, unlike, for example, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, or the International Organization for Migration, which are all part of the U.N. and operate all over the world. UNRWA only operates in the small area in and adjacent to Israeli-controlled territory. And it’s not a friend of Israel, its people or its government.

The two bills passed with wide support—this isn’t one of those far-right plays. The first bill, banning UNRWA from east Jerusalem, passed 92-10; the second, a general ban for Israeli government officials to cooperate with the agency, and a ban for the agency to operate anywhere within Israel, passed 87-9.

Yuli Edelstein, a Knesset member and chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said in a speech:

UNRWA long ago ceased to be a humanitarian aid agency, but in addition to it being an integral supporter of terror and hate, is an agency to eternalize poverty and suffering. The rationale is simple – in order to survive, UNRWA created demand for the product it provides. The circle of horror ended today, they are out!

One bill says UNRWA will no longer “operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly” in Israel. The other extinguishes the treaty between Israel and UNRWA, which has been ratified since 1967 and the end of the Six Day War, within seven days of the bill passing in its final vote.

…that no Israeli government agencies or representatives may contact UNRWA or a representative of it, beginning three months after the bill passes; that criminal proceedings into UNRWA employees’ involvement in acts of terror will continue; and that Israel’s National Security Council must report to the committee every six months regarding the bill’s implementation.

U.N. employees who work for the agency will be subject to prosecution for terrorist acts and will no longer enjoy the diplomatic protection given to other U.N. workers after the treaty expires. Of its 14,000 staff (I’m sure it’s less now) in Gaza, Israel accused 19 employees of participating in the October 7, 2023 slaughter against Israeli citizens. The agency itself investigated and concluded nine employees “may have” been involved.

It’s clear the thousands of U.N. employees working in Israel, in Gaza, and the peacekeepers in Lebanon, are not working to keep Israel as part of the world’s civilized nations. They are at best an irritant, and at worst, an enemy.

Why does Israel need the U.N. at all? The world body is technically responsible for the existence of Israel, but really, the Arab League never accepted the original Partition Plan as approved. So what value does the U.N. have to Israel?

I asked ChatGPT to make me a table of votes against Israel versus other countries, like China and Russia, over the years. Here’s what I got.

If not for American vetoes, Israel would have more rebukes and censures against it than practically any other nation in the world, even countries that put a million of a particular minority in internment camps, or conduct mass starvations on purpose. Yes, the Palestinians need food, medicine, and services. Israel can provide those, and for the most part, has over the decades.

Now, Israel wants terrorists to stop, and then there can be an end to the war. The U.N. is not helping. The U.N. is not on Israel’s side, and never has been.

Why Israel continues to tolerate its own membership in an organization that actively hates it is only due to America’s friendship. If that friendship frays to the point of an irreparable tear, it only makes sense for Israel to withdraw completely from the U.N.

The world frets over the plight of the Palestinians, and many U.S. journalists say UNRWA is necessary to help the Gazans suffering after a year of war. Perhaps UNRWA should be absorbed into the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), or simply disbanded. But we know that won’t happen, because as long as Palestinians continue to be considered refugees, despite having lived in the land where they reside for over 70 years, the agency has a reason to exist. As long as Israel itself exists, UNRWA feels it should exist.

Now Israel is done with the UNRWA. I say good riddance.

Perhaps there can be progress towards peace once the meddling bureaucrats in Turtle Bay get their noses out of supporting terrorists.

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