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Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein and Director of Research & Special Projects Liz Berney, Esq. released the following statement:
The ZOA strongly praises the Israeli Knesset for overwhelmingly voting (92 to 10) to outlaw Hamas-front UNRWA from operating in Israel. ZOA is especially proud that one of the Knesset bill’s initiators was ZOA’s former Israel office director, Knesset member Dan Illouz. ZOA is also proud that Israel’s parliament acted despite unconscionable pressures from the Biden administration, the UN and others to refrain from doing what is necessary to protect Israel’s citizens from UNRWA’s support for and active involvement in Hamas’ and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s terrorism and Jew-hatred.
The law was aptly dedicated to the victims of violence linked to UNRWA, including murder victims Aner Shapira, Jonathan Samerano and Hersh Goldberg-Polin; hostages Or Levy, Eliya Cohen and Alon Ohel, and all the hostages and victims harmed by UNRWA terrorists.
For years, ZOA has been demanding that the U.S. must defund UNRWA, and take action against UNRWA. In February 2024, ZOA Coalition initiated and successfully obtained the overwhelming passage of a resolution at the World Zionist Congress’ Zionist General Council in Jerusalem, condemning UNRWA and calling for UNRWA to be dismantled.
ZOA has pointed out repeatedly that UNRWA teaches children in UNRWA schools to aspire to murder Jews, hides Hamas weapons in UNRWA facilities, is infiltrated by Hamas members, corrupt, has bloated employee rolls, and perpetuates providing “refugee rights” to millions of alleged “Palestinian” descendants who do not qualify as refugees under any normal, accepted legal definition of refugees. Fmr. Pres. Trump defunded UNRWA; but Pres. Biden promptly rescinded that policy and sent UNRWA hundreds of millions of U.S. tax dollars. (See, e.g., “ZOA Demands Biden Stop Arab Terror Funds to Hamas-Led UNRWA Schools,” Nov. 23, 2022; “Morton Klein: Trump Wisely Ends U.S. Funding to UNRWA,” Breitbart, Sept. 6, 2018.)
Similarly, fmr. Ambassador Nikki Haley commented this week: “We knew long before Oct. 7 that UNRWA spread anti-Israel and antisemitic hate. That's why the U.S. stopped giving them hundreds of millions of dollars when I was at the UN. Biden gave the money back, no strings attached.”
Since October 7, 2023, the need to take action against UNRWA became even more pressing. It is crystal clear now that this is not simply a situation of "a few rotten apples.” Rather, UNRWA’s terror infiltration is systematic, widespread and pervades UNRWA’s highest levels. For instance:
- On October 7, 2023, numerous UNRWA employees murdered and abducted Israelis. In January 2024, Israel gave the U.S. detailed dossiers on a dozen UNRWA employees who actively took part in the October 7 massacre of 97 Jews at Kibbutz Be’eri, kidnapped a woman, handed out ammunition, brought rocket-propelled grenades stored in an UNRWA employee’s home, received text messages to report to Hamas muster points, etc.
- An UNRWA social worker murdered Yonatan Samerano at Kibbutz Be’eri. Yonatan’s body was then abducted to Gaza in an UNRWA vehicle. Yonatan’s bereaved mother, Ayelet Samerano, implored: “An UNRWA worker kidnapped my son. How can the UN pay this man’s salary?”
Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon asked while holding up a photograph of Hamas terrorists, including an UNRWA worker, carrying Yonatan’s body to load him into the UNRWA terrorist's car: “Looking at this horrific image, one must ask, how does kidnapping and killing civilians fit into an UNRWA employee's job description? Where in UNRWA's mandate is this justified?"
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Also on October 7, UNRWA employee Mohammad Abu Itiwi, who was also a Nukhba commander in the Al Bureij Battalion of Hamas' Central Camps Brigade, led the murderous attack on a bomb shelter on Route 232 near Re’im (site of the Nova concert). In this attack, Hamas/UNRWA terrorists murdered 16 innocent Israelis (including Avner Shapira, who bravely threw Hamas’ grenades back at the terrorists, and an Israeli-Arab who begged the Hamas/UNRWA terrorists to spare them); and abducted 4 four Israeli civilians – including pianist Alon Ohel and American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who lost an arm in the Hamas/UNRWA assault and was later murdered by Hamas. (Nukhba is Hamas’ “elite” terror force – the worst of the worst. Itiwi was recently eliminated by the IDF.)
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