Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis has always been a critic of UNRWA. On a trip to Jordan in 2018, he described the UN aid agency as part of the problem in the Middle East. There was a hail of international criticism.
The FDP Federal Council now feels vindicated, according to reports from his department. At least since Israel accused several UNRWA employees of being dangerously close to Hamas. However, an external investigation found that there was no evidence of this at the beginning of the week.
Opinions in the Federal Parliament have been made
But although the report by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna at least partially exonerates UNRWA, the opinions in the Federal Parliament seem to have been made.
Foreign Minister Cassis and the entire Federal Council are receiving a lot of support today from the SVP and FDP, but also from the center party, for the decision not to continue paying any money to UNRWA. The external review of UNRWA is a “farce,” even from the center party.
The left-wing parties are completely different: the Greens and the SP are outraged that the Federal Council, in contrast to other European countries, has frozen aid funds. The SP is collecting votes for a petition to the Federal Council to immediately release the 20 million francs for the Palestinian aid organization.
But if Federal Councilor Cassis had applied to Parliament’s foreign policy commissions today to unblock the funds for UNRWA, he would hardly have gotten away with it. For the middle class majority, the external investigation report has apparently changed little.
Waiting for second report
Nevertheless, delaying funding for UNRWA is not a fundamental decision that will change Swiss Middle East policy. The Federal Council wants to wait for a second announced investigation report into the aid organization in the Gaza Strip. In addition, the government will monitor very closely which countries will now resume their cooperation with UNRWA. The fact that Germany, Sweden and Canada are releasing their aid should give the state government pause.
With its critical stance towards UNRWA, Switzerland risks being sidelined in the long term. Foreign Minister Cassis is unlikely to have any interest in Switzerland becoming a special case in Western Middle East policy. It is therefore conceivable that the Federal Council could release the funds to UNRWA in a few months after in-depth investigations.