Netherlands to Reduce Funding to UNRWA

Photo Credit: Chaim Goldberg / Flash 90

Israelis protest against United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) at their offices in Jerusalem, Feb. 5, 2024.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has welcomed a vote by the Dutch Parliament on Thursday to decrease its funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) due to its ties to terrorism.

“I welcome the important decision of the Dutch Parliament . . . to begin a gradual process of ceasing funding to UNRWA due to the organization’s links to terrorism,” Sa’ar said in a statement on the X social media platform.

“It is appropriate that more countries follow the example of the Dutch Parliament. UNRWA is tainted by terrorist activity from the grassroots to the grassroots. Unfortunately, it is part of the problem in Gaza, not part of the solution,” Sa’ar added.

An Israeli intelligence report released last January showed that at least a dozen UNRWA employees actively participated Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, and that the agency has hundreds of “military operatives” belonging to Hamas and other terrorist groups on its payroll.

Moreover, many of the terrorists responsible for endless attacks against Israel are “graduates” of the UNWRA-run schools in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority, where the curriculum incited students against the Jewish State.

The Dutch parliament voted 88-49 on Thursday to cut the country’s annual funding to UNWRA by 4 million euros a year, starting next month.

“UNRWA as an organization has been in disrepute for repeated violations of neutrality and for some of its employees who glorified violence in telegram groups,” the budget amendment states. “In addition, there have been serious allegations against employees who participated in the October 7, [2023, massacre] or the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah.”

This past January, Netherlands gave 19 million euros to the agency – its annual allocation — from the Dutch development budget.

The Knesset voted on October 28, 2024, to sever Israel’s relationship with UNWRA over its enmeshment with the Hamas terrorist organization.

The Dutch funding cuts will be rerouted to other aid organizations that offer humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

The Netherlands first announced on Jan. 28, 2024, that its government had halted “any future funding of UNRWA” in a decision reached by Foreign Trade and Development Minister Geoffrey van Leeuwen.

The decision came after UNRWA announced an investigation into allegations that some of the agency’s staff members were involved in the October 7th massacre in southern Israel.