Israel welcomes U.S. exit from UNESCO, citing longstanding bias
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Tuesday praised President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.
The Winter Palaces of the Hasmonean kings from the Second Temple period near Jericho Photo by Kobi Richter/TPS
U.S. State Department spokesperson confirmed the move in a statement, saying, “UNESCO works to advance divisive social and cultural causes and maintains an outsized focus on the UN’s sustainable development goals, a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy.”
Sa’ar called the U.S. exit “a necessary step, designed to promote justice and Israel’s right for fair treatment in the UN system, a right which has often been trampled due to politicization in this arena,” in a tweet.
“Singling out Israel and politicization by member states must end, in this and all professional UN agencies. Israel thanks the US for its moral support and leadership, especially in the multilateral arena which is plagued with anti-Israel discrimination. The United Nations requires fundamental reforms in order to remain relevant.”
Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris-based UN organisation in 2019, citing its anti-Israel bias and need for reform. But President Joe Biden reversed that decision, and the U.S. returned to UNESCO in 2023.
Israel joined UNESCO in 1949 and cooperated with the organisation for several decades. Tensions first erupted in 1974 when UNESCO, under pressure from Arab states, suspended Israel from its regional group and condemned Israeli archaeological activities in eastern Jerusalem. Israel responded by suspending its cooperation.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, UNESCO continued to criticise Israel over its actions in Judea and Samaria, prompting Israel to accuse the organisation of institutional bias.
Friction escalated in 2011 when UNESCO admitted Palestine as a full member state. In response, Israel and the United States cut funding to the organisation, accusing it of politicisation. Controversies escalated further in 2016, when UNESCO passed a resolution ignoring Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and Western Wall, prompting Israel to recall its ambassador. The following year, UNESCO designated Hebron’s Old City and the Tomb of the Patriarchs as a Palestinian World Heritage Site, again drawing sharp Israeli condemnation.
In 2023, UNESCO raised further Israeli ire by designating the Jericho ruins of a Hasmonean palace and Byzantine Period synagogue as a World Heritage Site “in Palestine.”
Israel formally withdrew from UNESCO in December 2018.
In February, the White House announced a 90-day review of the US UNESCO membership, citing the organisation’s persistent anti-Israel bias, failure to reform, and unresolved financial arrears.
The U.S. withdrawal takes effect in December 2026. Washington provides eight per cent of the organisation’s budget.
