Thank you, Madame President.

This is, unfortunately, not the first time I have had to speak on the troubling reality that is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA.

UNRWA has been political since its inception, and it continues to amaze me how the member states of this organization do not see the hypocrisy that lies within UNRWA’s very existence.

Let’s start with the organization itself. No other refugee population in the world currently has an “UNRWA.” Not the Syrian refugees. Not the Yemeni refugees. Not the refugees from any other conflict in the world. Every other refugee in the world is under the jurisdiction of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR. The UN created UNRWA and its unique criteria specifically

for the Palestinians. UNRWA defines its beneficiaries as refugees. But an UNRWA refugee is different from a UNHCR refugee. An UNRWA refugee has a special refugee status that is automatically passed down to future generations. Palestinian refugees can obtain citizenship from other countries while maintaining their refugee status. 2.2 million UNRWA beneficiaries are actually citizens of another country, in addition to being considered refugees. This policy of allowing citizens to maintain refugee status is unique to UNRWA

and does not apply to the refugees of UNHCR.

In other words: the vast majority of UNRWA beneficiaries do not meet the recognized criteria for what constitutes a refugee under international law. No other refugee population in the world enjoys this same privilege. Why, then, does UNRWA grant its beneficiaries all of this special treatment? 

Let’s take a look at history.

In 1947, the United Nations Partition Plan proposed the formation of two states, a Jewish state and an Arab state, in the land of the former British mandate. The Jews accepted it immediately. But the Arabs did not. Following their rejection, five Arab armies launched a war on the young and tiny State of Israel, attacking our borders from all sides. We won. UNRWA was established following that war, 68 years ago.

In 1952, Lt. Gen. Alexander Galloway, director of UNRWA in Jordan, spoke candidly about UNRWA’s purpose. He said, and I quote, “It is perfectly clear that Arab nations do not want to solve the Arab refugee problem. They want to keep it as an open sore, as an affront against the United Nations and as a weapon against Israel.” The Palestinians have never let go of this agenda.

The unique status of automatic inheritance continues and worsens the Palestinian refugee problem. What began as 750,000 Palestinian refugees has now turned into over 5 million, simply because of UNRWA. By manipulating the scale of the Palestinian refugee problem, UNRWA plays a direct and biased role in the politics of the conflict.

In addition, 2.1 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, who have never crossed an international border, are still considered by the UN as refugees. In every other case on earth but the Palestinian, a person must be forced to leave one country and cross an international border into another to be considered a refugee by the UN.

Let me ask you: why is it that a Palestinian who was born in Ramallah and lived there his entire life – why is he considered a refugee? How come? 

But that is the case.

Had the original 750,000 refugees been resettled in 1949, the Palestinian refugee crisis, and thereby, their illegitimate claim of return, would not exist. But today, approximately 5.4 million so-called refugees still hold onto the hope to return to houses in which they never lived. That hope, if realized, would erase the State of Israel – simply by sheer numbers.

Under the guise of the claim of return, the Palestinians, through UNRWA, are refusing to accept the Jewish right to self-determination, in any part of the Land of Israel and within any borders. This sentiment runs rampant in Ramallah today.

In September, we all heard Mahmoud Abbas say to the General Assembly that he believes in a two-state solution. But he also said that he will fight for the return of over five million so-called refugees. These views are contradictory. If the millions of so-called Palestinian refugees return, Israel as the one and only Jewish state, will cease to exist.

Madame President,

Numerous reports reveal close ties between UNRWA employees and Hamas leadership. In April 2017 Suhail al-Hindi, UNRWA teacher and Chairman of the UNRWA Employee’s Union in Gaza was accused of being elected to the Hamas leadership. He resigned during the allegations. For years, UNRWA has been empowering the refugee problem instead of trying to solve it, while adopting a unilateral political position. The organization's schools have been transformed into terror and incitement infrastructures, with textbooks distributed on the ground denying Israel's existence, and underground tunnels dug by Hamas. UNRWA employees assist terrorist groups by using official UNRWA vehicles to transport weapons and terrorists to carry out attacks against Israel. And if that were not enough, every UNRWA school has a Hamas-appointed representative on campus, responsible for

recruiting students to participate in Hamas’ student group.

In light of recent events, Israel simply cannot take lightly the alliance that appears to have formed between members of UNRWA and Hamas. Just two weeks ago, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups in Gaza have fired more than 700 rockets and mortars into civilian population centers in Israel. These rockets have hit Israeli homes, hospitals, factories and even kindergartens. Four Israeli civilians – Moshe Feder, Moshe Agadi, Zaid Al-Hamamdah, and Pinkas Pshuzman – were killed in these acts of terror, and more than 100 others were injured. Two Palestinians in Gaza – Falasteen Abu

Arar and Saba Mahmoud – were also killed by a Hamas rocket that was fired toward Israel but landed in Gaza.

As protectors of international peace and security, the UN should wonder why its organization that is meant to help the Palestinians is working so closely with the Hamas terrorists, who do nothing but hurt the Palestinians.

Madame President,

It is, therefore, in the best interest of UNRWA, Israel, the Middle East, and the Palestinian people for the UN to take the following two actions.

First, the Security Council must finally designate Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Second, the time has come for a reassessment of UNRWA – of the objectives, the success in implementing those objectives, and whether or not these objectives match the reality on the ground. It is time to stop pumping money into an organization that has continued the plight of the Palestinian people in Gaza. UNRWA has failed to rehabilitate the Gaza Strip. It has succeeded only in inciting violence against the State of Israel. UNRWA’s mandate must come to an end.

I ask the representative of UNRWA: like any organization, you must have clear goals. Present those goals. How long will it take to reach those goals? Will we sit here in 10 years? 15 years? What will it cost to reach those goals?

The Security Council should receive your answers within a few months. Within six months. But we need to hear those answers.

Thank you.