Episode Overview

Title: Episode 92: Why does Israel hate UNRWA?
Host: Haviv Rettig Gur
Date: February 22, 2026

In this episode of Ask Haviv Anything, Haviv Rettig Gur dives deep into understanding why Israel holds such longstanding antagonism toward UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). Moving past sensational news headlines, Haviv unpacks the fundamental issues at the heart of Israel’s opposition, examining historical, political, ideological, and operational dimensions.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Surface-Level Incidents: Terrorism Claims

• Israeli intelligence claims: At least 12, possibly 19, UNRWA employees in Gaza directly participated in the October 7th, 2024, massacre.

• UN response: The UN fired nine employees based on findings (00:50).

• Perspective: While shocking, this involvement represents a tiny fraction of UNRWA’s 13,000 staff in Gaza. Haviv argues that, although dramatic, this is not Israel’s principal issue with UNRWA:

  “Nineteen out of thirteen thousand, and just kick him out. There’s a deeper problem with UNRWA…” (Haviv, 02:25)

2. Systemic Co-optation: Hamas Infiltration

• Israeli claims: About 1,500 UNRWA employees (12%) are Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad members. This intertwines UNRWA payroll with Hamas’s operational structure.

• Analysis: In an environment where Hamas controls Gaza, almost every organization gets infiltrated. UNRWA cannot operate “except by Hamas’s pleasure” (04:07).

• Realpolitik: Aid agencies must contend with the powers that be on the ground—even unwillingly—so infiltration is nearly unavoidable:

  “If you’re going to run schools in Gaza and hire 13,000 people… you’re going to end up dealing with the powers that be.” (Haviv, 06:33)

• Still not the core problem: Haviv maintains this, too, is insufficient to explain Israel’s drastic measures against UNRWA.

3. UNRWA Facilities Used for Military Purposes

• Evidence: The IDF has published cases of Hamas tunnels and data centers directly under UNRWA facilities, such as the Gaza City headquarters (08:00).
• Complicity: Shared infrastructure (e.g., electrical cables) and the need for construction cooperation suggest deep operational entanglement.
• Comparison: Similar phenomena have occurred with UNIFIL in Lebanon, where Hezbollah used proximity to UN peacekeeping installations as cover (09:20).

4. Education and Ideological Radicalization

• Curricula and Influence: UNRWA schools have used and sometimes created teaching materials with explicit incitement to violence and anti-Semitic content (11:48).

• Hamas’s efforts: Over 17 years, Hamas has heavily shaped Gazan education toward radical ideology through these schools.

• Polls show: High levels of radicalization among young Gazans, hampering even economic decisions and peace prospects.

  “Hamas succeeded in the massive project of radicalizing Gaza through these schools. That’s deeper. UNRWA is a platform in which Hamas and the most extreme ideologues of the Palestinian national movement trap Gazans…” (Haviv, 13:28)

• Key Figure: Leaders of UNRWA staff unions, such as Suhail Al Hindi, are or have been high-ranking Hamas operatives (14:41).

5. The Core Issue: UNRWA’s Foundational Mission

• Historical Context: Unlike millions of other refugees handled by UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency), the world created a unique organization—UNRWA—for Palestinians (16:42).

• Unique Definition: UNRWA’s definition of “refugee” allows status to be inherited for generations, regardless of actual dispossession or integration elsewhere (18:24).

• Practical Consequences: A Nobel Prize-winning scientist, or even a hypothetical US President, with Palestinian parentage remains a “refugee.”

• Purpose: According to Haviv, UNRWA’s real purpose is not aid, but to perpetuate the status of Palestinian refugees until the “end of Israel”—effectively, the “right of return” for millions to Israel proper.

  “UNRWA was not created to help Palestinians… UNRWA was created to ensure that one group of refugees on this earth had a different definition of refugee from all other groups.” (Haviv, 20:38)

• Regional Impact: This definition justifies countries like Lebanon and Syria denying citizenship to Palestinians for decades—to keep the issue alive.

• Israeli Perspective: UNRWA isn’t just problematic; it is seen as actively perpetuating the conflict and undermining Israel’s legitimacy.

6. Current Israeli Policy and Legal Changes

• Recent Laws: In October 2024, the Knesset passed measures barring UNRWA from Israeli territory and prohibiting official communication (23:03).

• December 2025: Further laws block UNRWA from electricity, water, and banking services.

• Strategic Aim: Eliminate not just the military threat (Hamas), but also the ideological-institutional infrastructure sustaining the “right of return.”

  “Israel’s not at war with UNRWA. UNRWA is at war with Israel.” (Haviv, 25:38)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the sensational nature of the news:

  “It’s a dramatic news story if an UNRWA employee invaded Israel and murdered people. But it’s not the fundamental problem with UNRWA.” (Haviv, 12:50)

• On UNRWA’s ideological impact:

  “UNRWA is emphatically part of the problem. It is the heart of the campaign to argue that Israel should not, does not have the right to and cannot in the end exist.” (Haviv, 22:19)

• On the refugee definition:

  “For all time. Even if they have the citizenship of another country… even if your child was born in the United States and rose up to become President of the United States. Under UNRWA rules, it is possible to have a US President who is a refugee.” (Haviv, 18:24)

• Concluding statement:

  “Everything about UNRWA is fixable except the heart and soul of it, the purpose of it. Israel’s not at war with UNRWA. UNRWA is at war with Israel.” (Haviv, 25:30)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:05 – Audience question: Why does Israel reject UNRWA?
• 01:00 – Initial discussion of terrorism accusations against UNRWA staff
• 03:20 – How infiltration happens in a territory controlled by Hamas
• 08:00 – Evidence of Hamas facilities directly under UNRWA infrastructure
• 11:48 – The role of education and curriculum in promoting radicalization
• 16:42 – Historical context: Why UNRWA was founded
• 18:24 – The inherited definition of "refugee" and its implications
• 22:19 – Israel’s view of UNRWA and its ideological consequences
• 23:03 – Legislative moves to bar and “de-platform” UNRWA in Israel and Gaza
• 25:30 – Final summary: The heart of the conflict with UNRWA

Summary

Through a layered exploration, Haviv Rettig Gur unpacks why Israel’s problem with UNRWA is not just about individual bad actors, operational malfeasance, or even collusion with Hamas—but about the agency’s structural purpose. UNRWA exists to perpetuate a distinct, multi-generational definition of Palestinian “refugee” status, which fuels and legitimizes the ongoing claim for return and undermines Israel’s existence. Recent Israeli policies seek not just to expel Hamas, but to dismantle the institutions—embodied by UNRWA—that perpetuate a state of perpetual conflict. Haviv’s argument: “Everything about UNRWA is fixable except the heart and soul of it…” It is not merely an aid dispute, but a profound and foundational conflict of purpose.