Why is Israel in Rift with UN Agencies?

Ifeoluwa Siddiq Oyelami

The relationship between Israel and the United Nations (UN) has grown increasingly strained. Since Israel launched its war in Gaza in October 2023, one of its early targets has been the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). According to Mat Nashed, a Middle East journalist whose interviews with regional stakeholders underscore the concern that Israel’s detest for UNRWA is part of a broader strategy to displace Palestinians.

Established in 1949 to provide relief for Palestinians displaced during the 1948 Nakba, UNRWA was intended to support Palestinian refugees until they could safely return home. Thus, its existence represents a UN commitment to upholding the right of Palestinian refugees to return. Given this mandate, UNRWA has often been viewed as a challenge to Israeli policy. Hence, Israel has since linked the agency to Hamas and, after over a year of lobbying Western countries to halt funding for UNRWA—a campaign backed by countries like the United States and Germany—it recently announced that it would no longer recognize the agency.

Israel’s tensions with United Nations appear to extend beyond its friction with UNRWA. In his address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu argued that many UN member states oppose Israel’s presence, accusing the Assembly of harbouring antisemitic sentiments. This was as noted that over the past decade, the UN has condemned Israel 174 times—a figure reportedly more than twice the number of condemnations for all other nations combined.

While Netanyahu spoke in New York, projecting his country and its allies as forces for peace and others as “terrorists,” his rhetoric was accompanied by military activity back home. The Israeli Occupation Forces began an offensive on Lebanon, and a week later, the occupation forces called for UN peacekeepers stationed along the Lebanese border to withdraw. On October 10, Israeli forces reportedly fired at an observation tower at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) headquarters, resulting in the deaths of two peacekeepers.

The UNIFIL was established by the UN Security Council in March 1978, shortly after Israel’s initial incursion into Lebanon. As of September 2, UNIFIL includes more than 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 nations. These forces comprised 5,662 personnel from Asia, 4,127 from Europe, 1,006 from Africa, 54 from North America, 30 from Oceania, and 16 from South America.

If the United Nations is indeed an organization that reflects the will of the world, then Israel’s recent moves could be interpreted as a symbolic declaration of defiance against the global community, particularly after it declared UN Secretary-General António Guterres persona non grata. This stance is somewhat paradoxical: Israel was established through UN Resolution 181 on November 29, 1947, which partitioned the former British Mandate of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. Since then, Israel has often been shielded by U.S. vetoes in the Security Council, a layer of protection that underscores the nation’s unique standing within the UN framework. Against this backdrop, Israel’s current estrangement from the organization could be seen as a case of “biting the hand that fed it.”

The modern Zionist state may be seen as a contemporary reflection of its historical counterparts in Madinah, the Banu Qurayza and Banu Nadir. These were groups to whom the Prophet granted freedom and rights, yet they chose to betray him. Modern Zionist leaders have also acted against even their staunchest allies, challenging the very countries that supported Israel’s establishment and security. Before Israel’s founding in 1948, tensions mounted as Britain managed the demography of Palestine, facilitating Jewish migration but at a pace slower than Zionist factions desired. This must have frustrated some Zionist groups that, they resorted to guerrilla tactics to accelerate their quest for “independence.” Notable among these was Irgun, a terrorist group responsible for a series of attacks on British interests, including the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, which killed 91 people, and the 1946 bombing of the British Embassy in Rome. Meanwhile, Irgun’s leadership produced prominent Israeli figures, including Menachem Begin, who would later serve as Israel’s prime minister.

Despite its status as Israel’s closest ally, the United States has not been exempted from Israeli espionage activities. One of the most high-profile cases remains that of Jonathan Pollard, a Jewish American convicted in 1987 for spying on behalf of Israel. In the years since, several former CIA officials have claimed that Israeli secret service MOSSAD operates one of the most extensive espionage networks targeting the United States among allied nations. Yet, some U.S. politicians and media outlets with strong pro-Israel sentiments have largely downplayed these incidents.

It is however worrisome that many Muslim leaders continue to ally with Israel, either directly or indirectly, in hopes of obtaining political and economic advantages from the global Zionist structure. It is sad that their trade ships and even warships still dock at the shores of Muslim countries. Well, history suggests that alliances like this are often short-lived. Israel has always shown a readiness to toss out even its closest partners if political calculations change. For instance, Israel has rebuffed proposals from the Arab League to withdraw from Gaza, even though some of these countries were sitting and smiling with Israel some months before October 7. 

In conclusion, the world must recognise the kind of country it is dealing with. Israel has often prioritised its objectives and care less about sustaining diplomatic relationships. It only utilises other nations as ladders to getting to its aims. Well, as Israel continues to confront various UN agencies, it raises questions about the nature of its stance toward the world order itself. Can we, then, consider this a symbolic declaration of defiance toward the world?