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Replacing UNRWA Is an Opportunity Trump Should Not Miss
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Robert Satloff - The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is the controversial body tasked with providing aid and services to Palestinian refugees. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the body established to address the fate of all other refugees around the world. Its core mission includes promoting the resettlement and integration of refugees into countries where they have sought refuge. However, UNRWA's mission has been the exact opposite - to oppose their resettlement and integration. Providing relief to millions of Palestinian descendants of the original refugees, based on the argument that their legitimate, rightful home lies inside Israel, is deeply counterproductive to the search for peace. UNRWA long ago shed its identity as an impartial provider of emergency relief to become a Palestinian advocacy agency. UNRWA schools that serve hundreds of thousands of children have often taught curricula suffused with anti-Israel, even antisemitic, messages. In October 2024, the Israeli parliament passed laws that will come into effect January 30: a ban on UNRWA operations in Israeli sovereign territory and the severing of all Israeli ties with the agency. With this deadline looming, the Biden administration reportedly approached other UN agencies operating in Gaza - including UNHCR, the World Food Program (WFP), the World Health Organization, and others - to gauge their ability to take over UNRWA's tasks. They all said no, insisting that only UNRWA can do the job. In other words, the UN system essentially said it would rather Gazans starve than for it to be complicit in sidelining UNRWA. Instead of politely asking them if they can assume UNRWA's job in Gaza, the Trump administration should put them on notice that continued U.S. funding of their own global operations is contingent on them taking over those tasks. The U.S. is the largest donor to the WFP, providing 46% of its budget, and to UNHCR, providing 44% of its budget. Faced with losing a large chunk of this aid, these agencies would no doubt discover that they are suddenly quite capable of doing UNRWA's job. The writer is Executive Director of The Washington Institute.