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Foreign Minister Saar congratulated the countries that abstained from the vote to extend UNRWA’s mandate. He described the rise in votes against from 3 to 10, and the decrease in supporting votes from 165 to 149, as “encouraging and significant.”

Saar noted that some abstaining countries are donors to UNRWA, showing that the international community is beginning to recognize the agency’s negative role. He alleged that UNRWA is influenced by Hamas and that some of its employees took part in the October 7 attack. He emphasized that Israel will not cooperate with UNRWA and that the Knesset has passed relevant laws, stating: “UNRWA is part of the problem, not part of the solution.”

Saar thanked the United States, Argentina, Hungary, Paraguay, North Macedonia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Palau, and Tonga; and also acknowledged the abstentions of Germany, Italy, Czechia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Ethiopia, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Madagascar, Micronesia, Nauru, and Samoa.

He delivered a clear message to the UN and UNRWA: “The previous situation will not be repeated.”