Prime Minister Netanyahu has welcomed Trump’s ‘couragous and moral’ decision to pull out of UNESCO, saying Israel will begin preparations to do the same.
“The prime minister instructed the Foreign Ministry to prepare Israel’s withdrawal from the organization alongside the United States,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, hours after the US said it is quitting the organization, citing its “anti-Israel bias” alongside financial considerations.
Netanyahu said he “welcomes the decision by President [Donald] Trump to withdraw from UNESCO. This is a courageous and moral decision because UNESCO has become the theater of the absurd and because, instead of preserving history, it distorts it.”
The US withdrawal is to take effect on 31 December, 2018.
This is a courageous and ethical decision because UNESCO has become a theater of the absurd and instead of preserving history, distorts it.
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) October 12, 2017
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, earlier praised Washington’s decision, saying UNESCO has become a forum for Israel-bashing and had forgotten its original purpose.
Danon said UNESCO was now “paying the price” for the “shameful” decisions it has adopted against Israel, citing “a new era” dawning at the UN in which “anti-Israel discrimination” has consequences.
