DayofPal—A new report has revealed a coordinated network of Israel-aligned organizations working to pressure Germany into reducing or ending its support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Commissioned by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and authored by German-Israeli researcher Alon Sahar, the report examines a transnational advocacy campaign that has spent more than a decade seeking to undermine UNRWA’s credibility and challenge the Palestinian right of return.
According to the report, the campaign intensified after October 7, 2023, when Israel claimed UNRWA employees have links to Hamas, leading several donor countries to temporarily suspend funding to the UN agency.
Germany became a key focus of these efforts after the United States stopped its UNRWA contributions in January 2024, making Berlin the agency’s largest government donor.
Germany provided $116.8 million to UNRWA in 2025, more than double the contribution of the United Kingdom, the second-largest state donor.
UNRWA currently delivers education, healthcare, humanitarian assistance and social services to around 5.9 million Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation report highlights that Germany has supported UNRWA since 1952 and has grown into one of the agency’s most important financial backers.
The report identifies a network of organizations and individuals that it says play different roles in a broader effort to discredit UNRWA and influence German policy towards defunding, imposing stricter conditions, or replacing the agency.
It names organizations including UN Watch, NGO Monitor, IMPACT-se, and former Israeli politician Einat Wilf as key “narrative originators” that produce arguments and claims targeting UNRWA.
UN Watch has focused on accusations of institutional bias and alleged links between UNRWA staff and Palestinian armed groups, while NGO Monitor has published reports criticizing international and Palestinian civil society organizations and advocating for increased scrutiny of UNRWA by donors.
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