US withdraws from UNESCO, cites ‘continuing anti-Israel bias’

The US State Department confirmed the country is officially withdrawing from UNESCO, the UN’s cultural body it helped found in 1945, citing “anti-Israeli bias” and the need for reform. The move will take effect on December 31, the US announced.

“This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO,” the State Department said in a Thursday statement cited by Reuters.  

Washington will remain in the organization “as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise,” the statement said. There has been no immediate comment from the US government.

Earlier, Washington officials told AP that the United States is withdrawing from UNESCO after repeated criticism of resolutions that the Trump administration perceived as anti-Israeli.

UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said she received official notification from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, adding she expressed “profound regret at the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from UNESCO.”

Washington’s move was “a loss for multiculturalism and the UN family,” she added.

In a statement released later on Thursday, Bokova said: “At the time when the fight against violent extremism calls for renewed investment in education, in dialogue among cultures to prevent hatred, it is deeply regrettable that the United States should withdraw from the United Nations agency leading these issues.”

She added that in 2011, when the US stopped funding the organization, “I was convinced UNESCO had never mattered as much for the United States, or the United States for UNESCO.”

The US stopped financing UNESCO after the organization moved to admit the Palestinian Authority as a member in 2011.

However, the State Department has maintained a mission at the agency’s Paris headquarters.

Americans played a pivotal role during UNESCO’s formation. Archibald MacLeish, the first US member of UNESCO’s governing board, authored the preamble to its 1945 Constitution, according to the State Department.

The constitution’s spirit gained fame due to its opening lines: “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.”

The US joined UNESCO as a founding member but pulled out in 1984 because of “a growing disparity between US foreign policy and UNESCO goals.” After 19 years, Washington rejoined the organization in October 2003.

“As a symbol of our commitment to human dignity, the United States will return to UNESCO. This organization has been reformed and America will participate fully in its mission to advance human rights and tolerance and learning,” the then-president, George W. Bush, said while announcing the decision to rejoin.