Israel to formally leave UNESCO

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his country will withdraw from the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO.

Netanyahu had already announced in October that Israel would pull out of UNESCO following a decision by President Donald Trump to withdraw the United States from the agency for its alleged "anti-Israel bias."

"I instructed the Foreign Ministry at the end of the week to withdraw from UNESCO," Netanyahu said at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting.

"I think that this is necessary in light of the biased, unilateral and absurd attitude of the organization toward us and also in the background of the United States' strong stance in the U.N., which we welcome," he continued.

Israel has complained that a succession of UNESCO motions condemning its actions in Jerusalem did not take into account Jewish links to the city and the disputed holy site known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Earlier this year, the agency added the old town of Hebron in the West Bank - a pilgrimage site for Christians, Jews and Muslims - under its World Heritage Sites in Palestine, sparking outrage in Israel.

Netanyahu's statement comes as the U.N. General Assembly last week overwhelmingly voted to rebuke Washington over its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

(DAILY SABAH)