US to pull out of Unesco over inclusion of Palestine and alleged anti-Israel bias
The US has announced that it will leave the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) on 31 December 2026 over its inclusion of Palestine as a member state.
The State Department announced on Tuesday that Washington viewed Palestine's inclusion as "highly problematic", and a decision which had in turn led to the "proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric".
The US was angered in 2011 when Unesco members granted Palestine full membership in the body, despite opposition from its ally Israel.
Washington opposes any move by UN bodies to recognise Palestine as a state, believing that this must wait until a negotiated Middle East peace deal.
"Unesco works to advance divisive social and cultural causes and maintains an outsized focus on the UN's sustainable development goals, a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy," the State Department's spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, said.
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"Unesco's decision to admit the 'State of Palestine' as a member state is highly problematic, contrary to US policy and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organisation," she added.
On Monday, the New York Post reported that US President Donald Trump had ordered a 90-day review of the US's membership in February, focusing on any "anti-Semitism or anti-Israel sentiment within the organisation".
Officials within his administration concluded that Unesco had a pro-Palestine and pro-China bias and was overly concerned with diversity, equity and inclusion policies, a White House official was quoted as telling The Post.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar welcomed Tuesday's announcement, claiming that Israel had been singled out by the agency.
However, Audrey Azoulay, Unesco's director-general, rejected the accusations and said that the claims "contradict the reality of Unesco's efforts, particularly in the field of Holocaust education and the fight against antisemitism".
Azoulay also said that Unesco's work had been hailed by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, the World Jewish Congress and its American Section, and the American Jewish Committee.
"I deeply regret President Donald Trump's decision to once again withdraw the United States of America from Unesco," she said.
"This decision contradicts the fundamental principles of multilateralism, and may affect first and foremost our many partners in the United States of America - communities seeking site inscription on the World Heritage List, Creative City status and University Chairs."
The US was a founding member of Unesco in 1945, but this latest departure marks the third time it has quit.
The US first withdrew in 1983 under Ronald Reagan, whose administration said the organisation had anti-western bias and "has extraneously politicised virtually every subject it deals with".
It rejoined in 2003 under George W. Bush, with the White House saying it was happy with Unesco's reforms.
The Trump administration then withdrew from Unesco in 2017, shortly after the body designated Hebron's Old City and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank as a Palestinian World Heritage site.
His administration cited what it called "mounting arrears, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation and continuing anti-Israel bias".
It returned in 2023 under US President Joe Biden whose administration said it was crucial to rejoin in order to counter "Chinese influence".
As a condition of readmission, the US agreed to pay about $619m in unpaid dues.
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