Israel has accused the United Nations of running a vast, taxpayer-funded campaign that singles out the Jewish state, alleging that roughly $100 million a year is spent on UN reports, debates, committees, and special mechanisms aimed almost exclusively at targeting Israel.

The claim was laid out this week by Israel’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, following an internal analysis of the UN’s budget and programming. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said the findings expose a deeply entrenched and well-financed system of institutional bias.

“Today we actually showed that these are orchestrated campaigns, well-funded and well-established within the UN budget,” Danon said. “These $100 million, which will be approved in the coming days in the new UN budget, are spent on activities against the government of Israel and against the IDF.”

According to the Israeli mission, the spending is spread across dozens of UN bodies, many of which exist solely to advance the Palestinian cause or to scrutinize Israel. Among them are the Division for Palestinian Rights and multiple General Assembly committees whose mandates focus exclusively on Israel-related issues. Danon said that while some of the activity is explicit, much of it is hidden behind bureaucratic titles that mask “pure propaganda against the State of Israel.”

The analysis found that the UN produces dozens of debates and at least 100 reports every year on Israel and the Palestinians, many of them repetitive and politically driven. Each report costs tens of thousands of dollars to write and translate, while debates add thousands more in operational expenses. When staffing, travel, and administrative overhead are included, the total reaches into the tens of millions annually.

At the center of the system, Israel says, is UNRWA, the UN agency dedicated to Palestinian refugees. UNRWA’s annual budget request stands at approximately $86 million, with around $80 million coming directly from the UN’s regular budget. About 60 percent of those funds are allocated to international staff salaries.

Despite repeated revelations of Hamas infiltration into UNRWA and longstanding concerns over neutrality, the agency continues to receive preferential treatment, additional funding requests, and political protection, according to Israeli officials. Unlike other UN bodies facing budgetary reforms, UNRWA has largely been shielded from cuts.

“We are always trying,” Danon said when asked whether Israel is pushing to expose these funding streams. “But unfortunately, most countries tend to ignore it. And even though we exposed this, the UN will continue to fund these activities.”

Israel also pointed to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and its commission of inquiry on Israel, established in 2021 with an open-ended mandate. That body alone costs an estimated $4 million annually, and has increasingly adopted the language of delegitimization, including accusations of genocide and calls for economic pressure. The commission has compiled a “blacklist” of companies operating in Israeli-controlled areas and is supported by special rapporteurs who use UN resources to advance overtly political agendas.

According to the Israeli mission, the output of these bodies fuels international legal action against Israel and strengthens global boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaigns.

Israeli officials stressed that their findings are not a call to defund humanitarian aid or suppress legitimate criticism. Rather, they say, the goal is to expose a system that has normalized discrimination, rewarded institutional bias, and squandered vast sums of public money.

“We are sharing the information, and we are grateful to the US mission, which is taking a moral stand against the funding of these bodies,” Danon said. “Despite the huge amount of money directed against Israel, we will continue to stand strong and proud against the bias of UN organizations.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)