MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La) today joined Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and 15 other colleagues in urging the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to reconsider hiring former United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl as its director general.
During Krähenbühl’s tenure at the UNRWA, the UNRWA included antisemitic material in its textbooks and allowed Hamas to store weapons in its facilities. His term ended in disgrace when he was placed on administrative leave and resigned in the wake of misconduct allegations against him and his staff.
“In December 2018, UNRWA’s ethics office shared with the UN secretary-general a confidential report describing serious acts of mismanagement and abuse of power,” the senators wrote.
“[T]hen-Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl . . . was accused of repeatedly engaging in an extra-marital affair with a subordinate while on official travel. On November 6, 2019, it was reported the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services had opened its own investigation, and, as a result of the preliminary report, the secretary-general decided to place Mr. Krähenbühl on administrative leave,” the lawmakers explained.
Krähenbühl effectively ended the inquiry by resigning his position within hours of his suspension.
“Extending beyond the allegations of ethical misconduct leveled against Mr. Krähenbühl, we have serious concerns about the direction UNRWA took under his leadership between 2014 to 2019. Over this period, UNRWA facilities were repeatedly used to store weapons on behalf of the U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization Hamas,” wrote the senators.
“Moreover, under Mr. Krähenbühl’s leadership, UNRWA textbooks included [antisemitic] material that incited anti-Israeli violence. The failure to address these incidents can be seen as a pre-cursor to the October 7th massacre, which we now know included direct participation by UNRWA employees,” they continued.
“As the largest donor to the ICRC, we cannot stand idly by as yet another international organization falls prey to [antisemitism] and violence, let alone gross mismanagement and moral corruption. . . . We urge you to find a more suitable candidate to lead the ICRC during this turbulent time,” the lawmakers concluded.
Background
- In Jan. 2024, Kennedy authored a bill to defund the UNRWA permanently and divert its funding to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
- Also in Jan. 2024, Kennedy introduced a bill that would require the State Department to review the curricula of Palestinian schools and report whether U.S. foreign aid is funding material that encourages antisemitic violence.
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) also signed the letter.
The full letter is available here.
