The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Swiss Parliament’s Council of States voted 7 to 6 for a motion to “immediately suspend funding to UNRWA.” The decision came after UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer was the only witness invited to address the committee concerning UNRWA’s complicity with terrorism, presenting a 52-page dossier.
On February 18, 2025, in the presence of Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, the Committee made the following decision:
The Committee approved, by 6 votes to 6, with the deciding vote of the president, Motion No. 3194, to immediately suspend contributions to UNRWA. The majority of the Committee believes that Switzerland should not financially support an organization potentially linked to terrorism, on the one hand, and that other organizations could carry out UNRWA’s tasks, on the other. The minority, however, argues that the agency’s activities are currently essential in the region and that the immediate suspension of contributions to UNRWA would be dramatic for the civilian population.
At the hearing, Neuer presented the 52-page dossier filled with photographic evidence exposing the disturbing links between the UNRWA and Palestinian terror organizations. Neuer was the only critical voice to refute the statements made by the representatives of UNRWA and the ICRC at the hearing. UN Watch played a crucial role in the decision of the committee to support defunding UNRWA.
The motion now goes before the full plenary of the Council of States, for a vote scheduled on March 18, 2025.
Today in the 🇨🇭 Swiss Senate I presented our dossier exposing UNRWA terror ties. I'm hopeful they'll confirm the lower house motion to defund UNRWA. The US defunded in March; Netherlands and Sweden last month. Then we need to impose sanctions—and indict Lazzarini for war crimes. pic.twitter.com/3XsmalQpPh
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 20, 2025
