ISRAEL TO JOIN USA IN QUITTING UNESCO:

PM Netanyahu announced Thurs. 12 Oct. 2017 that Israel will be exiting the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) over the organization’s anti-Israeli bias, following a similar announcement by the Trump administration. The leading contender for the post of head of UNESCO is a Qatari delegate. The Simon Wiesenthal Center protested the choice, writing that candidate Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari has repeatedly endorsed anti-Semitic works and denied Jewish connection to Jerusalem. Earlier this year, UNESCO declared the ancient city of Hebron, King David’s first capital and home to the tomb of the biblical patriarchs, an endangered Palestinian heritage site. Last year, UNESCO passed resolutions declaring that Israel has no rights to Jerusalem, and described the Temple Mount and Old City of Jerusalem as Muslim holy sites.

The Prime Minister instructed the Foreign Ministry to prepare Israel's withdrawal from the organization alongside the United States. Netanyahu added that he "welcomes the decision by President Trump to withdraw from UNESCO. This is a courageous and moral decision because UNESCO has become the theater of the absurd and because instead of preserving history it distorts it." The USA decision to leave the UN’s cultural body was met with praise from Israel’s coalition and opposition politicians alike, citing UNESCO’S 'anti-Israel bias'. Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said that "the important decision taken by the USA regarding UNESCO demonstrates a determined struggle against the industry of lies. UNESCO lost its moral mandate with a string of absurd resolutions which distorted history and its time it paid the price." (Artuz-7)