Republicans threaten showdown over UN funding in Gaza
Sens. Marco Rubio and Mark Kirk say they’re “dumbfounded” by Secretary of State John Kerry’s $156 million pledge to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
Two hawkish senators on Oct. 22 slammed Secretary of State John Kerry’s $156 million pledge to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, foreshadowing a showdown over funding when Congress returns after the midterm elections.
The UN Refugee and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has long been in Republicans’ cross-hairs, in part because it recognizes 5 million descendants of the Palestinians expelled from their lands in 1948 as refugees. During this summer’s fighting in Gaza, the agency caused a bipartisan uproar when it turned over to the local authorities Hamas rockets that it had discovered stored at three of its schools.
In a letter to Kerry, Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said they were “dumbfounded” by the State Department pledge announced Oct. 12 as part of the Cairo donor conference to rebuild Gaza. The United States is UNRWA’s largest bilateral donor.
“This blind support sends the wrong message to an institution that has already become far too dependent on the largesse of the American taxpayer and repeatedly failed to ensure that its facilities and resources are not used by terrorists who wish to sow chaos and instability rather than aid the Palestinian people,” they wrote.
