The decision to cease cooperation with UNESCO, Israel took after the resolution of the Holy places of Jerusalem.
Israel has stopped cooperation with UNESCO after the organization adopted a resolution on Holy sites in Jerusalem, according to which denying the connection of the Jewish people to the Temple mount.
This was announced by the education Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett, in his letter to UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova, the text of which was posted on his Twitter page.
“After the shameful decision by the members of UNESCO to ignore history and to ignore the thousand-year connection of the Jewish people with Jerusalem and the Temple mount, I informed the National Commission of the state of Israel for UNESCO about the termination of all professional activities with an international organization,” wrote Bennett.
According to him, the decision of UNESCO “provides immediate support for Islamist terror” and ignoring the history of the Jews in Jerusalem is “the first step to ensure that the world will take all the warring religions and cultures”.
Bennett, in a letter expressed “sincere hope” that the organization will stop denying history “before stain their reputation and lose their professionalism.”
As you know, on Thursday, 13 October, 24 members of UNESCO supported the resolution on “occupied Palestine”, which was proposed by Egypt and the Palestinian authority. Voted against six countries, and 26 abstained. In particular, Russia and China voted for the resolution, Ukraine – abstained. This resolution condemns the restriction of access of Muslims to the Holy places of Jerusalem.
According to Israeli media, UNESCO has stated that there is no historical connection between Judaism and one of the Jewish shrines of the Temple mount, and also questioned the link between Judaism and Western Wall.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the decision of the Executive Committee of UNESCO. He said: “the claim that the Jewish people has nothing to do with Jerusalem and the Temple mount as absurd as the claim that China has nothing to do with the great wall of China, and Egypt to the pyramids. Its absurd decision, UNESCO has lost the remains of his legitimacy”
