|
Trending Topics
|
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/the-problem-is-unrwa/
The Problem Is UNRWA
(Israel Hayom) Amb. Ron Prosor - One of the main obstacles on the path to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is UNRWA, the UN agency founded to assist only Palestinian refugees, and that perpetuates the fantasy of their return. Some of these refugees do not exist at all. The most recent population census in Lebanon found that two-thirds of the refugees listed in UNRWA reports were simply made up. UNRWA prevents a political settlement from being reached, contributes to anti-Israel incitement, and robs aid to real refugees. While concerns have been raised over instability if the funding for UNRWA stops, there are UN organizations that are already active, like the UN Development Program (UNDP) and others, that can supply humanitarian services to the Palestinians relatively quickly. We have a ticking time bomb here, and if we do not defuse it now, in the long term it will blow up in our faces. The writer, who holds the Abba Eban Chair of International Diplomacy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, is a former Israeli ambassador to the UN.