USA and Israel Officially Withdraw from UNESCO on New Years’ Eve

The USA and Israel are no longer members of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, stated, “Israel will not be part of a body that continually rewrites history, including by erasing the Jewish connection to Jerusalem. UNESCO is manipulated by Israel’s enemies and continually singles out the Jewish state for condemnation.” Some of the sites that have been historically distorted are: Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and Western Wall and the Cave of the Patriarchs.

The United States has previously pulled out of UNESCO. The Reagan administration did so in 1984 because it viewed the agency as mismanaged, corrupt and used to advance Soviet interests. The U.S. rejoined in 2003.