US to leave UN cultural body again, citing ‘national interest’

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On Tuesday, the United States will leave UNESCO, saying that the United Nations Cultural and Educational Agency, known for setting up World Heritage Heritage sites, is biased against Israel and promotes “discriminatory” reasons.

“Continuous participation in UNESCO is not in the United States’ national interest,” State Department spokesman Timi Bruce said.

UNESCO called the US departure – which said it would have an impact in December 2026 – sad, but surprising, and said its financial effects would be limited.

President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of the UN educational, scientific and cultural organization once in 2017 once in 2017. Subsequently, President Joe Biden re -established US membership.

“I am sorry for President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from UNESCO to the United States again,” said Director General Audrey Ezolle, said Director General Audrey Azzolle, the director general Audrey Azzolle, the move confronted the basic principles of multilateral.

“However, sad, the announcement was expected, and UNESCO has prepared for it.”

In recent years, Ezolle said, UNESCO “made great structural reforms and diversified our funding sources”, including private and voluntary official partnerships.

He said that the US share in UNESCO’s total budget is currently eight percent. According to a source of UNESCO, which was asked not to disclose, it is estimated at about 20 % a decade ago.

Ezole said staff’s uselessness was not planned.

Bruce described UNESCO as “to advance discriminatory social and cultural reasons” and to focus more on the goals of UN stability, describing it as a “globalist, theoretical agenda”.

‘Like seven years ago’

Bruce also highlighted the body’s anti -Israeli position in recognizing Palestine as a state.

“UNESCO’s decision to recognize ‘Palestine’ as a member state is a cause for great distress against US policy, and has contributed to the spread of anti -Israeli statements within the organization,” Bruce said.

The administration has also objected to the recognition of UNESCO’s heritage sites in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Ezolle said the reasons presented by the United States are “the same as seven years ago”, though, “the situation has changed drastically, political tensions have eliminated, and UNESCO today creates a rare forum for consensus on concrete and action -based multilateral.”

He added, “Washington’s claims” in the battlefield against Holocaust’s teaching and enmity are in conflict with the reality of UNESCO’s efforts.

The UNESCO source described the US move as “fully political, without any real truth.”

Sources told AFP that the organization was forced to “force” without US money for many years after the departure of 2017. Sources said that UNESCO has shielded but new sources of financial support will still need to be found.

‘Always Welcome’

Israeli Foreign Minister Jidon Sar said he had welcomed the US decision. “This is an essential step, designed to promote justice and Israel’s right to justice in the UN system,” he said on X.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron also said on X that UNESCO has its “irreversible support”, which will not weaken after the US departure.

The UN organization describes its mission as promoting education, scientific cooperation and cultural understanding.

It monitors a list of heritage sites aimed at protecting unique environmental and construction gems, including the great barrier of Australia, from Syrians to the Athens Ecopolis and Egypt in Tanzania.

The UNESCO source said that the US representation will continue even after the organization was officially withdrawn, as it did in 2017.

Trump was not the first to get the United States out of UNESCO.

President Ronald Reagan ended the US membership in the 1980s, saying the agency is corrupt and supportive of Soviet. The United States re -enrolled under the chairmanship of George W. Bush.

Under Biden, the US withdrawal was a major achievement for Ezola, who became the chief of UNESCO in 2017, as it also included a US $ 619 million payment commitment.

On Tuesday, Ezole said the United States can always return to folds in the future.

“The United States and the United States will always be welcomed,” he said.