Israel Resource Review – The Israeli Who Brought Down UNRWA in Jerusalem Seeks Norwegian Support
David Bedein’s years-long campaign and his exposés of UNRWA’s activities in Israel and Gaza have contributed to the closure and demolition of its headquarters in Jerusalem. The Knesset passed a ban on UNRWA in October 2025.
Bedein accompanies KARMEL in a taxi to the demolished UNRWA building near the famous Ammunition Hill, where Israeli soldiers helped decide the battle for Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967. On January 21, 2026, the battle for UNRWA’s headquarters in Israel’s capital took place. Heavy Israeli construction machinery moved in and tore apart UNRWA’s buildings, which stand on Israeli state land.
Outside the now-sealed area stand David Bedein and KARMEL.
“These were UNRWA’s buildings,” says Bedein, pointing.
“UNRWA was a headquarters for terrorists, weapons, and explosives. Most of the terrorist attacks against Jerusalem originated from UNRWA’s headquarters. It was a place where terror against the State of Israel was planned and carried out in Jerusalem. We have produced five films about UNRWA’s activities that can be viewed,” Bedein recounts.
He strolls around the fence marked with ‘No Entry’ signs. There are no longer any terrorists on state land that was exploited by UNRWA — only ruins of twisted metal and rubble.
Part of the story: Bedein called several Arab and Jewish taxi companies in Jerusalem. When they heard the trip was to visit UNRWA, it proved impossible to get a cab. KARMEL eventually flagged down a taxi on the street that agreed to make the trip to the demolished UNRWA compound.
A Long Struggle
“UNRWA has existed for 75 years. Fifty-five years ago I began investigating UNRWA and their refugee camps. It is UNRWA that keeps the Palestinian Arabs in refugee camps. UNRWA steals charity money. They have withheld salaries. In the Muslim world, it is said that whoever steals charity money steals from Allah,” Bedein quotes.
“Are you the reason UNRWA in Jerusalem has now been shut down and demolished?”
“I am the reason. We have conducted 60 studies and produced 26 films about UNRWA’s operations.”
“Why have you dedicated yourself to exposing UNRWA?”
“For a journalist, the truth is paramount. The most important thing is that Israelis gain knowledge. In Exodus it says ‘Let my people go.’ I say: ‘Let them know’ (Let my people go — let my people know). That is what I do. That is why we translate Arabic schoolbooks.”
Bedein raised the issue of UNRWA with members of the U.S. Congress as far back as 1973.
“In 2009 we produced a study on how Hamas took over a unit within UNRWA. That led the European Parliament to begin investigating the matter. Canada withdrew from UNRWA. Other countries also began to scrutinize the issue. I went to Washington myself and told the story.”
A Great Deal of Money
“We have conducted investigations into UNRWA in Gaza, Judea, Samaria, Jordan, and Lebanon. There are a total of 59 centers and refugee camps. There, 90 percent voted for Hamas,” Bedein reports.
He notes that according to its website, UNRWA previously received $400 million from many countries. Now the figure stands at $1.6 billion. Bedein states that 67 donor countries provide funding.
Norway will contribute a total of 275 million Norwegian kroner to UNRWA in 2026, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed NRK. It further stated that a two-year agreement sets a core amount of 175 million kroner for both 2026 and 2027, with an additional 100 million kroner this year — bringing Norway’s total contribution for this year to 275 million kroner. According to the Israeli news outlet Times of Israel, UNRWA may face a deficit of around $310 million this year. Financial difficulties led UNRWA to announce on January 7 that 571 employees would be dismissed.
“UNRWA gives the impression that they are about to shut down. That is how they raise money. They claim the money goes to the children, but it is they themselves who take the money,” says Bedein.
“UNRWA is not preparing people for a two-state solution, but for a single Palestinian-Arab state across all of Israel. The Jews who remain are to be killed.”
Films in Gaza
Bedein’s team has conducted investigations in Gaza, Judea, Samaria, Jordan, and Lebanon.
One of David Bedein’s specialties is films made inside Arab schools. Summer camps for Palestinian-Arab children in Gaza were filmed from 2010 to 2013. They showed how Hamas dominates the camps.
“The studies showed how children and youth were encouraged to kill Jews. They had games and exercises for killing Jews. Both real rifles and toy rifles were used. We filmed children between the ages of nine and fourteen in action. Young people were also taught how to hijack Israeli cars and beat up Jews. The children chanted ‘Kill the Jews,’” Bedein recounts.
KARMEL ISRAEL NEWS has viewed several videos in which youth in Gaza are incited to murder Jews.
Film Crew in Gaza
“How have you managed to enter Gaza to film in schools and summer camps for children and youth?”
“We hire professional journalists who go into Gaza.”
“How have you managed to send journalists in now that the border to Gaza is closed?”
“We hire filmmakers who live in Gaza. They carry out assignments for us. We pay them for their work.”
While the interview is taking place at Bedein’s office in Jerusalem on January 21, he reveals that they have just received raw footage — two new films from schools in Gaza that were recorded just recently.
“What do these two newest videos from schools in Gaza show?”
“The same as before. Incitement to further murders and increased violence against Jews. In the schools, students are taught that they must conquer Israel.”
He further recounts that in the film “For the sake of Allah,” friendly mass murderers responded to questions.
“Arabs who work in hotels can be pleasant people, but they can also kill for Allah. When they kill, they give the following answer: ‘We are trying to earn a living.’”
The School Curriculum
David Bedein’s team has for many years studied the curriculum in schools run by UNRWA and the Palestinian-Arab Authority (PA) under Abu Mazen, and before that Yasser Arafat of the PLO.
“Arab children were taught that all the places they lost in the War of Independence in 1948 belong to the Palestinian Arabs. This means they are to reclaim villages and cities such as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Jerusalem, Hadera, Safed, and Beit Shean.”
Bedein says that children in UNRWA schools are taught that Jews do not exist in many places where Jews actually live.
“How can anyone believe this?”
“When you are eight or ten years old, you do not see it.”
From one of the films KARMEL has viewed, old keys from that era have become a symbol of the Palestinian Arabs’ intention to return to their properties — even though many of those homes no longer exist. As KARMEL understands it, the Arabs also possess maps and charts bearing Arabic names for Israeli locations.
Blood Money
“Why has more not been done to stop UNRWA?”
“Because there are around 450 companies in Israel that profit from UNRWA. Israeli authorities have been reluctant to intervene.”
“UNRWA also received hospital equipment from around the world. In the 1980s we discovered that they were selling such equipment to Israeli hospitals for profit. We know that UNRWA has sold cars, weapons, and other products. The whole operation was organized crime. UNRWA also sold equipment originating from Norway in order to raise funds.”
A Matter of Life and Death
“What I encounter is that many people respect those who murder Jews.”
“Are you afraid for your family’s lives?”
“The Palestinian-Arab Authority says they must kill Jews. Every Jew is at risk. My daughter’s best friend, Dalia Lemkus (26) from Tekoa, was stabbed in the neck and killed in a terrorist attack on November 10, 2014, while she was waiting for a ride. The murderer was released from prison in a prisoner exchange and now walks free.”
“I was 16 when the Six-Day War broke out in 1967. I am afraid that a new one could come. We must stop this.”
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command attacked a school bus near Avivim on May 22, 1970. Nine children were killed in addition to several others. Twenty-five were wounded, and one later died of their injuries.
“That is when I decided to move to Israel,” says Bedein, who was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, but grew up in Philadelphia.
“During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, we understood that we stand before a higher authority. Israel is a miracle. We see the hand of God in everything — for good and for ill. God may be angry with His Jewish people, but we must pray for God’s compassion. Israel is a miracle.”
Bedein, who observes the Jewish prayer times at synagogue, also emphasizes the importance of doing good.
“God tests us by how we treat Israel. If we do not behave, God will take us away.”
Seeking Support
David Bedein came to Oslo to demonstrate when Yasser Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize together with Israel’s Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1994. Member of Parliament Kåre Kristiansen (Christian Democratic Party) resigned from the Nobel Committee because Arafat was awarded the Peace Prize. Among conservative, Christian friends of Israel, Arafat was regarded as a terrorist who sought Israel’s destruction.
“We are now trying to raise funds for our projects, and I am convinced that people in Norway will be happy to support us. This work depends on money. Producing a film costs around $50,000. We must hire people to film, secure funds for translators, editing, and promotion of the film from Gaza. I do not have this money. We must collect donations for the work.”
David Bedein is 75 years old, and he is looking for people who can take over the baton in the fight for Israel.
He encourages Norwegians who read this to visit the website https://israelbehindthenews.com/, click on DONATE HERE, and make a contribution
