Israeli FM Says Weighing Israel’s Return To UNESCO, Two Years After Leaving

The Israeli government is considering rejoining the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), from which it withdrew in 2019, the Axios news site reported Wednesday.

According to unnamed officials, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid asked his office to review the case several weeks ago and its International Organizations Department is expected to present a recommendation soon.

Israel left UNESCO, as did the United States during the Trump administration, over the international body’s alleged anti-Israel bias.

However, according to Axios, Lapid believes Israel’s withdrawal from the international forum only made foreign policy less effective.

Several weeks ago, the foreign minister received a phone call from Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, who urged him to rejoin the agency, sources told the site.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Axios that Israel would coordinate any decision it makes regarding UNESCO with the US.

A Palestinian-led 2016 UNESCO resolution that ignored Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall caused then-education minister Naftali Bennett to cut ties between his office and the agency. Bennett is now Israel’s prime minister, after replacing Benjamin Netanyahu in June.