The US plans to rejoin UNESCO next month, after nearly five years outside the UN agency that deals with educational, scientific and cultural matters.
Israel followed the US in leaving UNESCO in 2019 – and it would be understandable if it decided to stay out.
After all, the original reason for the withdrawal – a US law prohibiting Washington from funding institutions that recognize states that don’t meet international standards of statehood – still stands. UNESCO has not withdrawn its 2011 admittance of the “State of Palestine.” The only difference is that Congress approved a waiver in December.
For Israel, being a member of an institution that recognizes the existence of a Palestinian state is a serious problem and could “influence the way that the international community looks at the Palestinian Authority [when] our position is that the PA is not a state,” as former foreign ministry director-general Alon Ushpiz said when this issue was in the news in 2021.
Palestinians use UNESCO to their advantage
The Palestinians have used their membership in UNESCO to deny Jewish history in Jerusalem and other places in Israel. UNESCO resolutions on the holy city only used Islamic terms for the Temple Mount and the Western Wall and start their accounting of Jerusalem’s history with the advent of Islam, a religion founded long after Judaism or even Christianity.
In addition, the Old City of Jerusalem is listed as an endangered historical site registered to Jordan, which controlled the eastern part of the city for 19 years and registered it with UNESCO over a decade after Israel forced it out. Rather than protecting culture and history, UNESCO contributes to its erasure; a diverse city with significance to many has been depicted as monochromatic.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay – who has been in her position since 2017 – has attempted to depoliticize the process. UNESCO now passes an annual resolution on Jerusalem that acknowledges its significance to all three major monotheistic religions. However, it also allows member states to submit annexes, and the Palestinian ones have been in the vein of their past distortions.
The US has not claimed that all is well with UNESCO. Rather, US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s policy has been to prefer engagement whenever possible, in part to regain ground that was ceded to rivals such as China and Russia, and this is no exception.
Israel's inconsistent stance towards UNESCO
Israel’s stance, however, has been less consistent. Jerusalem has avoided joining or has withdrawn from many UN institutions, including the International Court of Justice and the UN Human Rights Council. At the same time, Israel is active in the UN General Assembly and its institutions in New York, where some of the worst resolutions are passed.
There is an automatic majority in votes against Israel and many UN institutions are systemically biased against the Jewish state. Arguing for engagement by saying Israel can sway these bodies to be in its favor would be quixotic.
The reason to stay in the UN is that – despite its many flaws – it grants a significant measure of legitimacy to its member states, and Israel does not want to withdraw from the international arena.
It is also possible for Israel to take part in the many positive activities of UNESCO while boycotting other elements. There are many benefits of UNESCO membership, perhaps foremost of which is the ability to nominate World Heritage Sites, of which there are nine in Israel, including Masada, the White City of Tel Aviv, the Incense Route in the Negev, and others. UNESCO’s activities also include efforts to combat antisemitism and preserve the memory of the Holocaust – both of which are important and worthy endeavors.
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) and World Jewish Congress thus welcomed the US’s return to the UN agency. Both said that under Azoulay, the situation in UNESCO has improved.
“Under current leadership [UNESCO] has halted the adoption of one-sided resolutions prejudicial to Israel [that] did not serve American national interests and values, or those of our allies,” AJC said.
There is no doubt that joining UNESCO would be a mixed bag for Israel. If Jerusalem’s concerns are acknowledged and addressed, however, the Jewish state can reap the benefits of this UN institution while mitigating its downsides.