MK Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beiteinu), who sponsored the anti-UNRWA laws, said the government has not evacuated the agency from Kfar Aqab and is not implementing the legislation. She accused the government of ignoring her letters to the defense minister and the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and stated that nothing prevents the government from acting.
MK Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beiteinu), the sponsor of the Knesset laws aimed at expelling UNRWA from Israeli territory, said Thursday that the government is failing to implement the legislation. In a statement, Malinovsky said that UNRWA remains active in Kfar Aqab, a Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem, and that the government has not taken possession of the site or areas in Area C. She said she has sent letters to Defense Minister Israel Katz and to the head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, requesting tours and action, but received no response. 'Nothing prevents the government and ministers from implementing the law,' she said. 'It's simply that they don't want to.' Malinovsky rejected claims that the courts or international pressure are to blame, placing the responsibility entirely on the government.
Malinovsky has been a leading voice against UNRWA since sponsoring the anti-UNRWA legislation. In June, she called for the agency's expulsion after a US report found that 101 additional UNRWA employees participated in the October 7, 2023 massacre, which she described as proof that UNRWA is a terrorist organization. The Knesset passed laws in 2024 banning UNRWA operations in Israel and severing ties with the agency, but implementation has been gradual, with the agency still operating in parts of Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The government has not yet responded to Malinovsky's remarks.
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