In 2016, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Western Sahara, a disputed territory since 1975, and defined it as "occupied territory".
His statement upset the authorities in Morocco and turned him into an enemy of the people.
Berbat quickly formulated an appropriate response: the removal of dozens of UN employees, and a decision to close the military liaison office belonging to the UN peacekeeping forces in the country.
It can be assumed that the immediate and extreme reaction deterred the United Nations, which urgently convened the Security Council, clarified the Secretary-General's words and called for calming the spirits and the huge riots that broke out throughout Morocco.
The agency should be closed.
UNRA branch in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, photo: Reuters
The disclosure of UNRA's involvement in the 7/10 massacre should not have ended with just a call for the impeachment of its leaders and a demand from the international community to stop funding the alleged "diplomatic arm" of Hamas. The suspicion that some UNRA personnel massacred and kidnapped Israelis, and others armed the terrorists - while holding Diplomatic - should have caused immediate panic and panic in the organization's offices, from Jerusalem to New York.
Similar to Morocco, Israel should have clarified to the UN who is the real owner here.
Hamas attack on October 7, photo: AFP
Months of silence without condemnation of the massacres and rapes of Hamas, the shameful statements of the current Secretary General, and the climax with the disclosure of the agency's employees' involvement in the attack - should have shown the UN that the rules of the game have changed.
A message should have gone out from Jerusalem to the UN missions in Israel, according to which the owner of the house went crazy: only essential workers will remain in Israel, the remainder will be removed within 24 hours, and visa renewals will be suspended until it is decided otherwise.
UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, actions are needed - not words, photo: Reuters
The organization, whose roots were irreversibly stained with anti-Semitism for years, had to make it clear - through actions and not just words - that it had run out of patience for the lack of diplomatic neutrality.
The agency that was established as a separate body only for Palestinian refugees can and should be closed, and all of its activities - including the education and humanitarian aid frameworks - can be transferred to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which was designed for this very purpose.
A sad and unfortunate episode
It is also worth mentioning Israel's part in building the international coalition that announced the suspension of funding to UNRWA. The series of countries that followed in the footsteps of the US proves that in diplomacy it is necessary and desirable to act in an operative and rigid manner, especially in a difficult neighborhood like the Middle East, and sometimes to put the false speeches the teeth.
The story of UNRA is recorded as another sad and unfortunate chapter in an international organization that has lost its prestige, and slowly also its relevance in the geopolitical arena. In less than a decade we have witnessed a global epidemic, alongside brutal wars, and where the UN was supposed to be relevant and influential above all - it was absent and failed to lead significant moves that will be remembered in the pages of history.
UNRWA operative in Gaza, photo: AFP
The organization, which was established to prevent a second holocaust and world chaos, continues to serve as the main stage for the confrontation with the only Jewish state in the world, and as we have seen recently - some of its employees even participate in the campaign to destroy it.
The writer is a former spokesman for the Israeli delegation to the United Nations, a graduate of New York University
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