Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Wants to Cut Off Funds to UNRWA

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla, the chairwoman of the U.S House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee,  brought out a bill to cut off funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), accusing it of supporting violence against Israel. 

Ros-Lehtinen brought out the “UNRWA Anti-Incitement and Anti-Terrorism Act” this week. 

“In response to the increased terror and violence in Israel, we must hold those who are responsible for inciting this violence accountable and that includes UNRWA," Ros-Lehtinen said on Tuesday. “After investigating allegations first brought to light by UN Watch, the UN recently announced that several UNRWA employees had been suspended for posting inciting social media posts. The U.S. can’t continue to send $400 million to UNRWA while ignoring the systemic and endemic anti-Israel, anti-Semitic bias and the blatant incitement to violence we see from its employees. UNRWA employees and facilities are consistently tied to foreign terrorist organizations and a full accounting of the agency’s affiliations should be required before another dime is spent on this divisive organization.”

The bill would “withhold U.S. contributions to UNRWA unless the secretary of State certifies that no UNRWA employees, affiliates, schools, educational materials, or recipients of UNRWA funds are associated with foreign terrorist organizations or are propagating anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic rhetoric, propaganda, or incitement” and audit  UNRWA.