John Kirby – Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House
since late May 2022
Doocy: Thank you
John it said this month about the
unrwa you can’t hold them accountable
the depredations of Hamas how about
now
John Kirby: certainly it it looks as if Peter
and again there’s an investigation going
on so I’ll be careful but it certainly
looks as if U there’s cause to be
concerned about the actions of some of
the members of unra the UN relief and
works agency but that does not nor
should it impune the entire agency and
the entire all the body of work that
they’re doing they have helped save
literally thousands of lives in in Gaza
they do important work doesn’t mean that
there aren’t some folks in that group
that uh that need to be punished for
potentially these kinds of behavior but
that doesn’t impune the entire
organization.
Doocy : that’s bad though if there
are 12 people who are accused
it’s bad
it’s bad if there’s one bad if there’s
one that’s bad and the US is giving them
money how much money we have suspended
the they have
K: we have suspended the
suspension I don’t have the dollar
figures here Peter.
I’ll take the question and give back to you but we
have suspended unallocated funds pending
the outcome of the investigation who
does this White House vet because we
know that people coming across the
southern border are not vetted now we
know that people that are getting
hundreds of millions of dollars of us
money are not being vetted so who do you
guys check out it’s it’s interesting
that you’re combining the two the the
Border in this but let’s just let me let
me just give me a second it’s not like
it’s not like we don’t have a process at
the border and there is a challenge
there and the president does want to get
more border patrol agents but this idea
that just there’s no vetting and there’s
no proper immigration enforcement going
on at the border just is not does not
comport with reality there a lot of work
needs to be done to get better at that
but that’s put that aside because that
has nothing to do and you know it has
nothing to do with unra big what this
Administration is doing and how
resources are being used it is a UN
agency and yes we have contributed to
their work and that work has been
meaningful and it has been important in
places like Gaza but we also are willing
to hold them accountable for this
particular incident and before the
alleged Behavior by these particular
employees and as I’ve said wait just
give me a second now as I said we want
this investigation to be complete and
thorough and transparent and if it if
the if in the investigation it’s
determined that people need to be held
accountable then obviously we want to
see that too but up until today the US
policy then has been we don’t negotiate
with terrorists but we will give them
hundreds of millions of dollars come on
now that’s that’s conflating here this
is not you’re you’re that’s like saying
the whole unra is a terrorist
organization you know who is a terrorist
organization Hamas not unra now if they
have if the investigation proves that in
this case I think it’s about a dozen
employees were assisting Hamas and even
to the point of maybe even you know
involved in hostage taking then
absolutely they need to be held to
account and we will although we’ve
already suspended any additional
allocations to unra we’ll certainly
consider additional you know what
depending on the investigation whether
that requires any additional uh changes
in the way we support unra going forward
awesome thank you um I’d like to ask if
Thank you, John, for addressing the concerns regarding UNRWA this month. It seems challenging to hold them accountable for the actions of some members, given the complexities involving Hamas. While there’s an ongoing investigation, it appears there are reasons for concern. However, it’s essential not to generalize the entire UNRWA based on the actions of a few individuals. Despite this incident, UNRWA has played a significant role in saving lives in Gaza and has contributed meaningfully to humanitarian efforts. While it’s critical to hold accountable those responsible for misconduct, it doesn’t discredit the organization’s overall work. Regarding the funding suspension, the specific figures are pending, but we’ve halted unallocated funds until the investigation concludes. As for vetting procedures, while there are challenges at the border, it’s essential to differentiate between immigration policies and our contributions to UNRWA. The focus remains on transparency and accountability, and we await the investigation’s findings to determine appropriate actions. We’ve suspended additional allocations to UNRWA and will evaluate further steps based on the investigation’s outcome. Thank you for the question, and I’d like to clarify any additional concerns you may have.
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