Adam Kredo writes for the Washington Free Beacon about a dubious United Nations priority.
The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon is largely funded with U.S. taxpayer dollars, money it has used to pursue left-wing programs like “gender diversity” training and lessons on “gender mainstreaming in military operations,” as well as therapeutic yoga instruction. Those expenditures are drawing scrutiny as the Trump administration lobbies fellow U.N. Security Council members to vote against a French resolution renewing the agency’s mandate, sources familiar told the Washington Free Beacon.
The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), composed of thousands of troops from 46 nations, will need U.N. reauthorization at the end of August. Its force costs between $400 million and $500 million each year, with the United States shouldering roughly 30 percent of the burden. Private diplomatic concerns come amid public reports the Trump administration may allow UNIFIL’s mandate to lapse after last month’s rescissions package clawed back about $158 million from the agency.
Trump administration officials are closely assessing UNIFIL’s expenditures and activities before awarding fresh U.S. cash to the force, the sources told the Free Beacon. Those activities include a host of DEI initiatives UNIFIL has publicly promoted in recent months that run counter to President Donald Trump’s ongoing push to eradicate taxpayer spending on progressive ideological projects.
UNIFIL in July of this year, for instance, initiated a training session on “gender mainstreaming in military operations” alongside the agency’s “gender unit” after a request from the Lebanese Army. But the agency’s focus on gender issues did not begin with that training session.
The agency employs a “Military Gender Advisor” who discussed hiding in a bunker in October 2024 when Israel retaliated against Hezbollah, the terrorist organization UNIFIL is meant to prevent from attacking Israel, in a videotaped interview. Its navy boasts a “Gender Task Force,” founded in 2022 “to boost women’s role in peacekeeping.” And UNIFIL maintains “gender-sensitive accommodations” at its bases, featuring its facilities online amid a 2023 push “for more diverse and efficient operations.”
