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U.S. Pressuring Israeli Lawmakers to Drop Bill Banning Terror-Linked UN Agency
(Fox News) Efrat Lachter - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leaders, including Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman, have received requests from U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew to halt legislation aimed at severing all Israeli ties with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), including diplomatic visas granted to UNRWA workers. "There is a difference between dialogue and pressure," said Yulia Malinovsky, a Knesset member from the Yisrael Beiteinu party and one of the authors of the legislation. "UNRWA is a terrorist organization, and Hamas is an integral part of it. Its existence perpetuates the conflict. Around half of UNRWA employees are affiliated with Hamas, and the first weapons found in UNRWA were back in 2014. They were involved in the Oct. 7 massacre. This agency is part of the problem perpetuating the status of refugees to benefit its workers." Opposition leader Yair Lapid said, "UNRWA played an active role in the brutal massacre on Oct. 7. From its institutions, terrorist attacks against Israel were launched, hostages were held, and young women were raped." Lapid said he has supported the closure of UNRWA since 2013. The Israel Security Agency told the Knesset last week that "UNRWA is a threat to Israel's national security." Avigdor Lieberman, head of Yisrael Beiteinu, told Fox News Digital, "Messages were received, but I firmly refuse. This law is critical for Israel's security, and it will be brought forward." He expressed full support for the initiative, reiterating that the law aims to disconnect Israel from an organization linked to terrorism. IDF Lt.-Col. (ret.) Jonathan Conricus, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said, "This Israeli legislation is the bare minimum required. Eventually, for a better reality in the Middle East, UNRWA needs to be dismantled in its entirety from Gaza and all other places of activity." The parents of Yonatan Samerano, 21, whose body is being held in Gaza by Hamas, said, "We call on all government members to urgently pass the law in the Knesset. Otherwise, you are complicit in the kidnapping of our son, Yonatan Samerano, who was abducted by a UNRWA employee. Over a hundred UNRWA employees participated in the massacre on that cursed day."