The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) must undergo significant reform to secure past levels of funding from the United States, a senior American diplomat said on Tuesday, The Algemeiner reported.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said, “We were supposed to the last time give them $130 million, we cut it in half, saying they really needed to reform and fix they things they were doing, because they teach anti-Israeli and anti-American things in their textbooks.”
Speaking at a Foundation for Defense of Democracies event in Washington, DC, Haley added: “They are not doing things that would necessarily cause peace. It’s very political.”
“So instead of the $130 million, we give them $65 million,” she continued. “They didn’t say thank you. UNRWA had them protest in the streets (…) “We will be a donor [to UNRWA] if it reforms what it does (…) If it goes and makes sure that they’re not doing these teachings in textbooks, if they actually change the number of refugees to an accurate count, we will look back and partner with them.”
Haley called on regional players to increase their financial support for UNRWA, especially countries with a vested interest in the Palestinian cause. “You are all so quick to wag your finger at us for not giving more. Where is Saudi Arabia? Where is the United Arab Emirates? Where is Kuwait? Where are all of those countries?”
Haley told the U.N. Security Council: “They’re the ones that fight me every day on Israel issues. Yet they don’t give a penny when it comes to any more than they have to. They give tokens, and then we still are the largest donor of UNRWA at the same time.”
The senior diplomat also lashed out at the Palestinian leadership for “bashing” the Trump administration and refusing to take part in a U.S.-led regional peace initiative while at the same time expecting American handouts. The administration believes that by rejecting the U.S. peace plan out of hand, the Palestinian leadership demonstrates yet again that it lacks the will to take steps towards peace.
On Friday, the United States announced that it would cut $200 million in annual aid from the Palestinian Authority (PA). The decision comes amid PA’s boycott of U.S. officials following the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and its defiance of the Taylor Force Act by continuing to pay stipends to terrorists and their families. The State Department said the cut aims “to ensure these funds are spent in accordance with U.S. national interests and provide value to the U.S. taxpayer.” According to the reports, the U.S. will also ask Israel to reconsider allowing UNRWA to operate in the West Bank.
[Photo: Foundation for Defense of Democracies / YouTube ]