Elise Stefanik’s bold pledge: “We will dismantle UNRWA”

U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik, tapped by President Donald Trump as his nominee for UN Ambassador, made waves at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Addressing a fired-up crowd, she declared, “Make no mistake, as President Trump’s United States Ambassador to the United Nations, we will not only defund UNRWA, we will dismantle it.”

This unambiguous vow to take down the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) underscores her hardline stance on the agency and signals a dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward Palestinian refugee aid.

Here’s the full story behind Stefanik’s statement, her motivations, and what it could mean.

Who is Elise Stefanik?

Elise Stefanik, a 40-year-old Republican from New York’s 21st district, has risen fast in GOP ranks. Elected to Congress in 2014 as its youngest woman at the time, she’s morphed from a moderate to a fierce Trump ally, serving as House GOP Conference Chair until her UN nomination in November 2024. Known for her sharp questioning of university presidents over campus antisemitism in 2023, Stefanik’s pro-Israel credentials and combative style made her Trump’s pick to shake up the UN. Her Senate confirmation hearing on January 21, 2025, sailed through with bipartisan support, though as of February 24, 2025, her final Senate vote is on hold due to GOP House majority concerns.

Why Target UNRWA?

Stefanik’s CPAC pledge didn’t come out of nowhere—it’s the culmination of years of her vocal criticism of UNRWA, amplified by Trump’s “America First” agenda. UNRWA, founded in 1949, supports 5.9 million Palestinian refugees with schools, clinics, and aid across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the Palestinian territories. Unlike other UN agencies, it’s a direct service provider, employing 30,000, mostly Palestinians. But Israel and its allies, including Stefanik, have long accused it of ties to Hamas, the Gaza-ruling militant group labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. and others.

The tipping point came in January 2024, when Israel alleged 12 UNRWA staffers—out of 13,000 in Gaza—helped Hamas during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 and took 251 hostages. Claims of tunnels under UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters and a Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, carrying an UNRWA passport fueled the fire. Though a UN probe found no hard evidence of widespread collusion, the damage was done. Congress, with Stefanik co-leading the charge via the “Uncovering UNRWA’s Terrorist Crimes Act,” banned U.S. funding in March 2024—a policy Trump doubled down on with a February 4, 2025, executive order cutting all UNRWA support.

Stefanik’s Crusade: From Congress to CPAC

Stefanik’s anti-UNRWA campaign predates her UN nomination. In February 2024, she blasted Biden for reversing Trump’s 2018 funding cuts, tweeting, “Joe Biden chose to send U.S. taxpayer dollars to UNRWA, and we are once again seeing the devastating consequences.” She pointed to the Hamas data center under UNRWA’s HQ as proof of “systemic antisemitism and violent corruption.” By November 2024, she cheered Israel’s ban on UNRWA operations, saying, “The Biden-Harris Administration sent over $1 billion to this terrorist front since 2021. This must end.”

At her January 21 confirmation hearing, Stefanik called UNRWA’s “rot deep,” vowing to defund and dismantle it, replacing its services with agencies like the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and World Food Programme (WFP)—which she also wants reformed but sees as less tainted. Her CPAC speech two days ago turned that vow into a rallying cry: “We will not settle for stopping funding to UNRWA, we will ensure its dismantling.” The crowd roared.

Stefanik’s vision isn’t just about pulling U.S. cash, historically $300–400 million yearly. Dismantling UNRWA means ending its mandate entirely, a process requiring UN General Assembly action (next vote: June 2026). She’s banking on Trump’s leverage—25% of the UN’s budget comes from the U.S.—to pressure allies into agreeing. Her plan? Shift UNRWA’s work to other agencies or a U.S.-led framework, possibly tied to Trump’s hazy Gaza resettlement idea from February 5, 2025, which UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini slammed as “forced displacement.”

The stakes are massive. UNRWA’s 700 schools and 140 clinics prop up Gaza, where 90% of 2.3 million people are displaced after 15 months of war. Lazzarini warned at Munich on February 15 that killing UNRWA would “deepen despair” and destabilize the region—43,000 are dead already. Israel might step in, but critics fear a power vacuum could boost groups like Syria’s HTS. Arab states, meeting in Cairo in early February, called UNRWA “irreplaceable,” while hostages like Emily Damari, freed in January, bolstered Stefanik’s case by describing captivity in an UNRWA school.

What’s Next?

Stefanik’s confirmation still awaits Senate timing, delayed by House GOP fears of losing her seat before April special elections in Florida. Once at the UN, she’ll face a tough fight—Arab and non-aligned nations back UNRWA, and dismantling it risks legal blowback over refugee rights. Trump and Netanyahu, who met February 5, seem aligned, but global resistance could stall her crusade.