Israel refuses to return to UNESCO

Tel Aviv, Nov 22 (Prensa Latina) The Israeli Government on Monday ruled out returning to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which it abandoned a decade ago due to Palestine's entry as a member State.

November 22, 2021
08:26

We are not going to return to UNESCO, Alon Ushpiz, director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said to the military radio. He acknowledged that US authorities are considering to return to the agency.

In 2011, UNESCO, consisted of 193 countries, accepted Palestine’s entry, and a year later, the United Nations General Assembly granted it non-member observer State status.

Following UNESCO’s decision, Israel and its ally the United States, which provided 20 percent of the agency’s financing, stopped paying their dues and so, they lost their voting rights in 2013.

Although most of the international community advocates for the establishment of a Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, Israeli authorities reject such a possibility.

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