'It's impossible that UNRWA act against the law'

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely told Deputy United States Secretary of State John Sullivan on Monday that the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine needed to be changed. She said, "There can be no situation in which an official agency of the UN will grant refugee status to Palestinian descendants and will act contrary to international law according to which there is no second and third generation of refugees. UNRWA needs to implement the definitions of the general UN refugee agency, the UNHCR and ensure that the refugees are reduced and that the Palestinians are not perpetuated as refugees forever."

Later, Hotovely told Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), "For many years, UNRWA has not been reformed because of the Israeli defense establishment, which wanted to preserve UNRWA as the least harmful alternative to the treatment of Palestinians," said Hotovely, "and there was an understanding that the current situation cannot continue and there is a need for change. The prime minister himself said that UNRWA has ceased fulfilling its role in dealing with refugees." She said UNRWA reform should includ a request that the United States demand transparency from UNRWA on the use of donation funds, a distinction between humanitarian aid to refugees and concern for intervention in the UNRWA school curriculum and change so as not to negate Israel's existence and incite against it. The two agreed to continue close cooperation on the issue.