Israel has suspended ties with UNESCO, the UN body in charge of preserving culture and history, after a draft decision that Israel says ignores Judaism’s ties to the religion’s holiest site.
The draft decision notes the importance of Jerusalem to all three monotheistic religions — Christianity, Judaism and Islam — but makes no mention of why the city is significant to Christians or Jews. A subsidiary body of UNESCO’s Executive Board passed the resolution Thursday in Paris.
It refers to Jerusalem’s holiest site — known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary — only by its Muslim name.
The draft decision, which largely criticizes Israel’s actions in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, was proposed by a group of Arab countries and drew harsh rebukes from Israel and the United States.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the move as absurd, saying: “To say that Israel has no connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall is like saying that China has no connection to the Great Wall of China or that Egypt has no connection to the Pyramids. By this absurd decision, UNESCO has lost what little legitimacy it has left.”
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