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UNRWA Is a Terrorist-Supporting Disaster; But New Israeli Law Won’t Stop It
An UNRWA aid truck at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, is the United Nations body responsible for providing aid to Palestinians.
The UN agency has also been exposed as supporting Hamas, teaching Nazi ideology to Palestinian children, and even participating in the October 7 massacre. Indeed, after his assassination by Israeli forces, Hamas chief and October 7 mastermind Yahia Sinwar was found with cash, weapons, and (wait for it…) an UNRWA ID card.
It therefore came as no surprise when, last October, the Israeli Knesset passed a law banning the UNRWA organization in Israel.
At the time, my organization published a proper legal analysis on our Substack page, which indicated that, aside from some short term virtue signaling, the new Israeli law was unlikely to have any impact at all. The law officially took effect last Thursday, and as predicted, it is having little practical impact on security, but it is creating diplomatic and public relations problems for Israel. Here’s what you need to know.
Under Israel’s new law, UNRWA is not permitted to “operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly,” in the sovereign territory of Israel.
However, by Israeli law, neither Gaza nor Judea/Samaria (the “West Bank”) are Israeli “sovereign territory” and for good reason.
In order to become sovereign territory, Israel must perform a legal act called “annexation.” For example, in 1967, Israel annexed the eastern portion of Jerusalem, and did the same in 1981 with respect to the Golan Heights. Israelis have at times debated whether to annex parts of Gaza and Judea/Samaria, but Israel has never actually done so, because, among other things, this would likely end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.
Under both international law and Israel’s own citizenship laws, Israel is required to offer full citizenship to all people living in an annexed area, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or national origin, and indeed, Israel has done so in both Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. To do otherwise would effectively create multiple classes of citizens with different rights, which is anathema to most Israelis as well as to any true democracy. Accordingly, to annex Judea/Samaria and Gaza as sovereign Israeli territory would mean adding millions of voting, Palestinian citizens to Israel’s democratic system.
But how many?
The Palestinian population of the West Bank and Gaza stands at 5.5 million, while the Muslim population within Israel is approximately 2 million, for a total of 7.5 million. This is more than the Jewish population, which is 7.1 million. After including Christians and other ethnicities, Jews would become an even smaller minority of total voters, and by the next election, Israel would cease to be a Jewish state at all.
Some people question whether Palestinian population figures are exaggerated, but even if they are, and even if Israeli Jews were to maintain a slim voting majority, Israel’s character as both democratic and also Jewish would be in constant jeopardy, and unlikely to last long term.
In short, most of the areas where UNRWA operates are not Israeli “sovereign territory” according to Israeli law, and therefore not covered by the new anti-UNRWA law. Under this new law, UNRWA is therefore continuing to operate in Gaza and Judea/Samaria, and in all likelihood, will continue its involvement in terror activities against Israelis.
Though the new law will likely be ineffective at curbing UNRWA’s terror activities, it will be quite effective at creating new international problems for Israel.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that the new Israeli law will be “devastating” for Palestinian civilians, a view that is echoed by much of the international community. Guterres’ statement is based on the patently false claim that there is “no alternative” to UNRWA.
In fact, there are multiple channels for delivering humanitarian aid, including other (potentially less corrupted) UN agencies, such as UNHCR, or UNICEF, as well as governments and private contractors.
Guterres further claims that Israel’s anti-UNRWA legislation violates international law. This assertion is simply untrue.
On the one hand, the IDF has implemented a legal blockade on Gaza, making Israel responsible for providing humanitarian aid to local civilians. Similarly, Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled in multiple cases that Israel must follow the international rules related to “belligerent occupation” in Judea/Samaria, rules which include the provision of humanitarian aid. However, international law says nothing about which entity is required to provide such aid.
Therefore, as long as Israel provides the required aid through some mechanism, there is absolutely no requirement to work through UNRWA. This would be the case even if Israel’s law prohibited UNRWA from operating in Gaza and Judea/Samaria, which it does not.
In any case, the opinion of the United Nations holds little credibility for most Israelis in the wake of the international body’s support for Hamas terrorism and its direct participation in the October 7 massacre (via its UNRWA agency). Nonetheless, the widespread (albeit inaccurate) view that Israeli actions are “devastating” or even “illegal” does influence other parties that are relevant to Israel, including the United States.
The Biden administration sent a strongly worded letter to Israel on October 13, 2024, effectively threatening an arms embargo unless Israel took certain actions within 30 days: one of the demands was that Israel not pass any laws against UNRWA — exactly what Israel did just days later. The American letter points to US National Security Memorandum 20 and Section 620i of the US Foreign Assistance Act, both of which are essentially mechanisms for cutting off foreign aid from US allies: a not-so-subtle threat to abandon Israel’s critical self-defense, in order to protect the close partner of a terror organization.
Indeed, the Biden White House did freeze a variety of items that Israel urgently needed, a practice that Trump undid by executive order shortly after taking office.
While it is unlikely that the Trump administration would actually carry out threats made by the Biden White House, the principle nonetheless opens Israel up to a variety of diplomatic attacks and embargoes by other countries, as well as by the United States under a future, less supportive, administration. It is arguably worth taking such risks in order to protect Israelis from terror attacks, but with UNRWA continuing to operate in Gaza and Judea/Samaria, the current Israeli law will not accomplish its intended security impact.
What would be effective? The Knesset introduced a bill last July to declare UNRWA a designated terror organization under Israeli law. Such a designation would allow Israel a variety of legal and security tools that could curb UNRWA’s harmful activities in a meaningful way, including in Gaza and Judea/Samaria. However, not only would passing such a law put Israel on a collision course with its key allies, but enforcement could result in Israel arresting, prosecuting, and potentially even engaging in combat with a UN agency.
Ultimately the problem Israel faces is bigger than UNRWA — it is that the Western world is engaging in widespread appeasement of terror organizations and their patrons. Until this reality changes, the tools available to Israel to protect its citizens from terrorism will remain tragically, and dangerously, limited.
Daniel Pomerantz is the CEO of RealityCheck, an organization dedicated to deepening public conversation through robust research studies and public speaking.
The post UNRWA Is a Terrorist-Supporting Disaster; But New Israeli Law Won’t Stop It first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Shock Poll: Most Jews Approve of Trump’s Job Performance, Strike on Iran
US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
A new Siena Research poll finds that a majority of Jewish voters in New York approve of President Donald Trump’s job performance and his handling of the Israel-Iran war.
The survey found that a majority of Jewish respondents, 57 percent, approve of the job Trump is doing in his second term as president, compared to 42 percent who disapprove.
Even more striking, 64 percent of Jewish voters say they approve of Trump’s handling of the Israel-Iran conflict, signaling strong alignment with his foreign policy stance in a community that has historically leaned Democratic in national elections.
The poll results highlight a notable political shift in one of the most reliably liberal constituencies in the country. In 2020, Trump won only about 30 percent of the Jewish vote nationally, and similar trends held in New York. But since his return to office in the 2024 election, a victory that itself stunned many observers, Trump has emphasized an aggressive pro-Israel posture, including increased military aid and unwavering rhetorical support during Israel’s war with Iran and Hezbollah.
The Israel-Iran war, which erupted earlier this year following escalating attacks between Israel and Iran, and Tehran’s deepening involvement with proxy forces in Lebanon and Syria, has become a key flashpoint in international politics and a central issue for American Jews. Trump has repeatedly vowed to back Israel “without hesitation,” and his administration has taken steps to provide military resupply, expand intelligence sharing, and block UN resolutions critical of Israeli operations.
In response, his approval ratings among Jewish voters, particularly Orthodox and pro-Israel segments, appear to have climbed sharply.
“This marks a significant departure from previous voting patterns,” said Lauren Saperstein, a political scientist at NYU focused on Jewish American voting behavior. “Trump has successfully tapped into security concerns, especially in light of the Iran threat, and that’s resonating with voters who may have disagreed with him on other issues in the past.”
Past data has suggested Orthodox Jewish voters tend to favor Republican candidates more heavily, while Reform and secular Jews lean Democratic. The new 57 percent approval figure indicates broader support than Trump has previously received from the Jewish electorate in New York.
Democrats, for their part, have struggled to maintain a cohesive stance on the Israel-Iran conflict. Many Democrats criticized Trump for deciding to strike at Tehran’s nuclear facilities, arguing that the president unnecessarily risked causing a broader regional war. Within the Democratic Party, divisions over Israel policy have widened, with younger progressives more likely to criticize the war and push for conditions on US aid to its longtime ally.
The poll results could have significant implications for upcoming congressional races in New York, where Jewish voters represent a sizable and politically active bloc. Several House districts in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island could be influenced by the shift in sentiment, particularly if Democrats are seen as divided or insufficiently supportive of Israel.
As the conflict in the Middle East continues, Trump appears to be benefiting from his strong messaging in favor of Israel and against antisemitism.
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The Anti-Israel Mob Never Mentions Women’s Rights in Israel — Compared to the Middle East
Paris 2024 Olympics – Judo – Women -78 kg Victory Ceremony – Champ-de-Mars Arena, Paris, France – August 01, 2024. Silver medallist Inbar Lanir of Israel celebrates. Photo: REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi
In parts of the Middle East, women still live in deeply patriarchal, often brutal systems. Changes exist more on paper than in practice. Power remains in the hands of men, religious systems, and political elites — and this repressive treatment often goes unchallenged.
This happens in places like Gaza under Hamas, in Afghanistan under the Taliban, in Iran under the ayatollahs, and even in Saudi Arabia, where “reforms” like women driving made headlines in 2018.
Let’s be clear: not every Muslim-majority country treats women this way. In places like Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey, many women work, study, and participate in public life. But even there, legal protections and personal freedoms often lag behind. And in the four examples mentioned — Gaza, Iran, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia — women face severe, institutionalized oppression. These are not fringe cases; they reflect the governing ideologies of millions.
Now contrast that with Israel.
In Israel, the only liberal democracy in the region, both Jewish and Arab women live with rights and freedoms unheard of in most of the Middle East.
In Israel, women:
- Vote and run for office
- Serve as Supreme Court judges, ministers, professors, doctors, and CEOs
- Join the military, even in combat roles
- Protest publicly without fear of being shot or jailed
- Choose how to dress, where to work, whom to marry, and what to believe
- File police reports and expect legal protection
Women in Israel are not just present, they lead. They command battalions, fly fighter jets, debate in the Knesset, run start-ups, and shape policy. Gender equality is not perfect — no country is — but legally, all women are fully protected.
And this is the part that’s almost never said: Arab women in Israel also enjoy more rights than in any Arab country. They study in top universities, vote freely, become doctors, lawyers, and leaders. Yes, some face traditional cultural pressures in their communities, but under Israeli law, they are citizens with equal rights, and legal recourse when those rights are violated.
Can the same be said for women in Gaza, ruled by Hamas? For women under the Taliban in Afghanistan? Or for the brave Iranian women imprisoned for removing their headscarves?
If you are a self-respecting feminist in the West, this should be a moral line: Israel is the only place in the Middle East where women are truly free. In Tel Aviv, if a woman is raped, she can go to the police. She’ll be heard, investigated, supported.
In Tehran, she might be blamed. In Riyadh, she could be imprisoned. In Kabul, she might be killed. In Gaza, she might be forced to marry her rapist.
So ask yourself: if you support women’s rights, why are you aligning with regimes or movements that strip women of their humanity?
Something is deeply broken when women in free societies chant slogans for groups that would silence, veil, and imprison them. When feminists march with Palestinian flags, are they aware that under Hamas, there is no LGBTQ+ freedom, no feminist activism, no legal protections for women?
You don’t have to support every policy of the Israeli government to recognize this truth: Israel is the only country in the Middle East where a woman can live as a full, free citizen.
Western feminists need to wake up. When you champion groups like Hamas or regimes like Iran “for the cause,” you are betraying the very values you claim to fight for.
Until that realization comes, I ask just one thing: If you truly care about women, why on earth are you standing against Israel?
Sabine Sterk is the CEO of Time To Stand Up For Israel.
The post The Anti-Israel Mob Never Mentions Women’s Rights in Israel — Compared to the Middle East first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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The Mob’s Efforts to Colonize the American Mind
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
A few days before Israel began Operation Rising Lion, Facebook blocked my account. I cannot thank Mark Zuckerberg enough for that mitzvah. Instead of having to watch neo-Hellenistic Jews do anything possible to hide their Judaism and people try to to steal the spotlight, I got to witness an endless array of Iranian dissidents thanking Israel on X.
They post Persian graffiti blessing Israel, the horrific history of the 46-year-old Islamic Republic, as well as what little protests they are able to engage in. And they remain as stunned as the rest of us at the protests both here and in Europe — which are in favor of the sociopathic, homophobic, misogynistic regime in Iran that is stifling not just their people’s freedom, but the lives of their families.
Qatar, China, Russia, and Iran have been unquestionably successful at one thing: the colonization of the American mind. Through antisemitic professors, “ethnic studies,” infiltration of leftist media (hello, Washington Post), and an intense disinformation campaign on social media, leftists have been fed a steady stream of lies and propaganda to the point that the protesters are ardently embracing a regime that kills women for showing their hair in public, hangs gay people, and considers child rape sacred.
In 2018, Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff published The Coddling of the American Mind. They discussed how a culture of “safetyism” interferes with social, emotional and intellectual development. In retrospect, that seems to have been Stage I of what’s now called the red-green alliance.
Stage II is a complete colonization — OK, obliteration — of brain cells. Disinformation so steeped in anti-facts it makes the Soviets look like amateurs. All of which led to a cognitive dissonance so septic some protesters simultaneously hold up posters celebrating both gay pride and the mullahs who would hang them.
It also led to a mass conformity during precisely the period when most healthy teens and 20-somethings rebel. There is only one word for this level of mass conformity: cult.
But for the moral inversion to be complete — for young women in the West to support the most evil patriarchy that has ever reigned — something else had to happen: a complete soullessness. Morality begins in our souls. If you choke off the soul — through a negation of spirituality, creativity, nature — you can easily be convinced to do anything and feel nothing. Thus, the increasing political violence here and in Europe.
Meanwhile, on the far right, Qatar has exerted a different sort of disinformation trap: buying off “influencers” to mouth jihadist talking points without even flinching. A recent exchange between Tucker Carlson and Glenn Greenwald over an alleged Osama bin Laden letter is truly jaw-dropping. The mastermind of 9/11 didn’t hate the US or the West, according to these two pundits. Three thousand Americans lost their lives because of US support for … Israel.
I would say that they both should win Academy Awards for their performances — but I actually think they believe it. We always knew that the Arab world excelled at propaganda. But this surpasses the KGB in its ability to turn formerly mildly intelligent men into Islamist puppets.
All of this will no doubt get far worse, even after Iran is freed. But we’re already seeing hopeful signs in Gen Z. Yes, older Gen Zers can barely be distinguished from their millennial teachers. But at least in New York City, millennials took leftism to such an extreme — trying to use Gen Z as their own puppets — that younger Gen Zers have begun to rebel: pushing back against the lies even in the classroom.
But the onus for real change begins in the home, where morality is either learned or spat on. And, of course, houses of worship, which needed to be depoliticized yesterday. We need to return to a world that privileges values over politics, education rooted in facts not opinions, a media that returns to objectivity.
A millennial here recently said to me: “There’s no such thing as objectivity.” I responded: “Is this a table?” She nodded. “Is it made of wood?” She reluctantly nodded again. “So can we agree on the fact that this is a wooden table?” She got angry. “Yes, but so what? That’s basic.” Yes, I said. But that’s where we are: returning to the basics. Facts, values, morality — all represent the foundation of this great country. And if we’re ever going to return to it, we need to start there.
Just as the Iranians are about to do.
Karen Lehrman Bloch is editor in chief of White Rose Magazine. A version of this article was originally published by The Jewish Journal.
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