World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder on Monday welcomed the decision of the United States to return to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
“The World Jewish Congress welcomes the decision by the United States to rejoin UNESCO after a five-year absence,” said Lauder in a statement.
“Under the leadership of Director-General Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO has made an immeasurable impact on the world stage by safeguarding history amid tumultuous and complex global events, so that current and future generations can be exposed to and better understand the lessons of the past,” he added.
“WJC, a longtime UNESCO partner on Holocaust remembrance and interfaith initiatives, is hopeful that the agency will now be able to share its critical work with even broader audiences,” concluded Lauder.
The statement follows reports that the US last week privately notified UNESCO that it has decided to rejoin the agency nearly six years after the Trump administration announced it was withdrawing US membership.
Israel withdrew from UNESCO in 2019, after the US made a similar announcement, over the agency’s anti-Israel bias.
In late 2021 it was reported that the Biden administration is pressuring Israel to renew its membership in UNESCO. Last year, reports indicated that Israel has withdrawn its opposition to a US return to UNESCO.
Israel had a contentious relationship with UNESCO, which has approved several anti-Israel resolutions in recent years.
In 2018, the UN agency approved a resolution declaring that the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem are "an integral part of the Occupied Palestinian territory."
Previous resolutions referred to the Jewish state as "the occupying power" in Jerusalem. Another declared the Old City of Hebron as a “Palestinian World Heritage site”.
In 2016, UNESCO passed resolutions declaring that Israel has no rights to Jerusalem, and describing the Temple Mount and Old City of Jerusalem as Muslim holy sites.