Home          Archives           Jerusalem Center Homepage       View the current issue           Jerusalem Center Videos           
Back

Israel Welcomes U.S. Defunding of UNRWA as Step for Peace


(Jerusalem Post) Tovah Lazaroff and Michael Wilner - "Israel supports the American move" to cut its funding to UNRWA as a positive step forward in the peace process, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Saturday night. It said UNRWA's determination of who is a Palestinian refugee is "one of the main problems perpetuating the conflict." "It is worth giving the money to other parties that will make good use of it for the welfare of the population and not for the perpetuation of the refugees." Former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren said: "The U.S. government's decision to end its aid to the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA is crucial for any future peace agreement." "UNRWA eternalizes the Israeli-Arab conflict by artificially inflating the number of refugees, teaching young Palestinians to deny Israel's right to exist and demand the right of return, while providing shelter to terrorists and concealing their weapons." "UNRWA is not essential to peace but rather a roadblock on the path to peace. UNRWA's support of schools can be picked up by other charitable organizations as well as the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees." "The Palestinians must recognize that the U.S. decision to rescind its support of UNRWA is a result of the administration's efforts to revive the peace process and to bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. From now on, any side that leaves the negotiation table is expected to pay a price."
2018-09-03 00:00:00
Full Article

Subscribe to
Daily Alert

Name:  
Email:  

Subscribe to Jerusalem Issue Briefs

Name:  
Email: