Israel to Boycott UNESCO Anti-Semitism Event

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in a Wednesday statement that he would be declining UNESCO [United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization]’s invitation to attend an event on anti-Semitism, criticizing the entity’s “persistent and egregious bias against Israel.”.

Netanyahu pointed out that UNESCO has passed 71 resolutions condemning Israel since 2009, with only two other resolutions condemning other countries.

“The mark of anti-Semitism was once singling out the Jewish people for slander and condemnation,” Netanyahu said. “The mark of anti-Semitism today is singling out the Jewish state for slander and condemnation.”

Netanyahu added that UNESCO needs to stop denying Israel’s historical ties to the Western Wall and the Cave of the Patriarchs.

“If and when UNESCO ends its bias against Israel, stops denying history and starts standing up for the truth, Israel will be honored to rejoin,” Netanyahu said. “Until then, Israel will fight anti-Semitism at UNESCO and everywhere else.”

Both the United States and Israel exited from UNESCO in 2017; at the time, the State Department stated that it was due to UNESCO’s bias against Israel and that they kept Syria on the human rights committee despite the ongoing civil war in the country.