The Israel Institute of New Zealand (IINZ) has made a formal complaint to the ombudsman about misleading responses by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) to Official Information Act (OIA) requests.

“It’s obscene that MFAT officials have recommended funding incitement and supporting terror, and they have lied about it in response to OIA requests” says co-director of IINZ, Dr David Cumin.

The funding relates to the New Zealand government support for UNRWA, which has a long history of glorifying the murder of Jews in schools, employing terrorists, and supporting or turning a blind eye to terror activities. New Zealand has given at least $1,000,000 to UNRWA for decades and never criticised the organisation. Dr Cumin explains that IINZ has been asking questions of MFAT since at least 2019.

“We have, over many many years, repeatedly asked MFAT officials if there are any other organisations they fund which have promoted hate or employed terrorists. In response, MFAT have denied they fund any organisation, despite the evidence.

“The events of 07 October, and further evidence that UNRWA staff - people our government has funded - partook in the massacre and UNRWA facilities were being used for terror underscores the serious nature of our government funding.

“The Ombudsman has previously ruled that he is not concerned by MFAT funding hate and terror via UNRWA. However, he may well be concerned that MFAT officials have given misleading responses to our questions.

“We know that MFAT officials are aware of the issues. For example, Deb Collins, Divisional Manager - Partnerships, Humanitarian & Multilateral Division, is on record as saying she was ‘not surprised’ when an EU-funded report found ongoing evidence that UNRWA school textbooks glorified terror and contained vile antisemitism. Yet she and others have never once even suggested that our funding be conditioned, let alone that alternatives be sought.

“Given that MFAT have given misleading answers in response to OIA requests, it is also possible that they have misled or misinformed the Minister. He may not be aware of the issues and so he may have approved funding without fully realising he was supporting hate to and terror. We look forward to the ombudsman’s decision.”

The complaint letter can be read here: https://israelinstitute.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/20241004_Ombudsman_MFATlies.pdf

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