Shama-Hacohen at UNESCO meeting
Shama-Hacohen at UNESCO meetingSpokesman of Israeli delegation to UNESCO

As Israel wages a diplomatic battle against the UNESCO resolution defining the Cave of Machpela in Hevron as a Muslim shrine devoid of any Jewish connection, the Palestinian Arabs have been working to advance an additional resolution meant to sever the Jewish connection to Jerusalem.

The secretariat of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO, which has been convening in recent days, has decided that a vote on the matter will take place tonight, Tuesday, despite the original plan that the vote would take place next week.

Jerusalem has been concentrating efforts on the vote on Hevron planned for Friday - and now it is racing against time to try and curtail the achievements of the vote tonight.

Israeli Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-Hacohen told Arutz Sheva this morning that “The Palestinians are assessing that by ‘softening’ the text about Jerusalem, they can achieve a consensus for the resolution, and a vote will not be required.”

“There are 8 more hours, and that’s a lot of time in UNESCO. We, on our part, are not giving up and believe that in the remaining time we can bring good news, therefore we are fighting until the meeting on the matter opens tonight, so that the Arab countries once again fail in reaching a consensus,” he added.