Editors at National Review Online question continued American support of dubious United Nations groups.
In an ideal world, the United States would withdraw its support for and participation with the United Nations General Assembly and many of its subsidiary organs while retaining its permanent seat on the body that at least reflects hard-power geopolitical realities: the U.N. Security Council.
But the perfect cannot become the enemy of the good. In lieu of a full-scale U.S. retreat from the UNGA, the Trump administration would do well to withdraw its imprimatur from some of the U.N.’s most corrupt and least effective institutions.
First on the chopping block has to be the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA. Last year, Congress put a pause on the transfer of funds to that apparatus following the discovery that some of its employees supported or even participated in the October 7 massacre. “Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution,” said UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini last year. Despite the firing of nine implicated UNRWA workers last August, the agency has not reformed itself.
Obviously, U.S. taxpayers should not be on the hook for a bill run up by terrorists engaged in a genocidal campaign against Israeli Jews.
Congress’s pause on UNRWA funding expires in March, and the legislature should make it permanent. In addition, the Trump administration should work to convince America’s partners abroad to do the same.
UNRWA isn’t the only boil the incoming administration would do well to lance. In its first year, the Biden administration thoughtlessly recommitted the United States to membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council, an Orwellian congress in which the world’s worst human-rights abusers dictate terms to the West from a position of presumed moral authority.
