The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) announced on Monday that the United States will rejoin it in July, four years after it left the agency (along with Israel), alleging that UNESCO was biased against Israel. The move to rejoin will face a vote by UNESCO’s member states and is expected to pass easily. UNESCO is a UN agency tasked with furthering international cooperation and peace through the promotion of educational, scientific and cultural causes. For instance, it designates locations globally as World Heritage Sites, which means international recognition and possible funding. The United States was a founding member of UNESCO in 1945. The US Department of State has now “welcomed the way in which UNESCO had addressed in recent years emerging challenges, modernised its management, and reduced political tensions,” according to UNESCO. What made the US leave UNESCO? The issue goes back to 2011, when UNESCO inducted Palestine as a member. This led to the US halting the agency's funding, worth millions of dollars, under then President Barack Obama. Notably, Palestine is not recognised as a sovereign state by the United Nations. It was included as a non-member observer State over Israel's objections in 2012, meaning it could participate in General Assembly proceedings but lacked voting rights. In 2013, Israel's ambassador to UNESCO, Nimrod Barkan, told the Associated Press that his country supported the United States' decision to stop its funding, saying it was "objecting to the politicisation of UNESCO, or any international organisation, with the accession of a non-existing country like Palestine". The Palestinians claim the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip — territories captured by Israel in the 1967 war — for an independent state. Israel says the Palestinians’ efforts to win recognition at the UN are aimed at circumventing a negotiated settlement and meant to pressure Israel into concessions. Israel and the United States termed the inclusion of Palestine, UNESCO's previous criticism of Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem and naming what it said were ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites as examples of anti–Israel bias. US laws, owing to the country's historical ties with Israel, prohibit funding to any UN agency that implies recognition of the Palestinians’ demands for their own state. But this was negotiated recently through an agreement in 2022 that allowed for giving UNESCO funds again, Reuters reported. Officials estimated that the US accrued $600 million in unpaid dues in these years and this amount was one of the reasons behind then US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw in 2017, a year after he was elected President. The decision came into effect in 2019. Israel owes an estimated $10 million and it also cut funding to the agency in the years leading up to its exit. And why has the US moved to join UNESCO again? According to AP, US officials said that the decision to return was also due to China filling the gap left by the US in UNESCO policy making, such as in setting standards for artificial intelligence and technology education around the world. UNESCO director general Audrey Azoulay, who is Jewish, has worked to address US concerns since her election in 2017, the AP said. “It’s a historic moment for UNESCO," she said Monday. "It’s also an important day for multilateralism.'' Undersecretary of State for Management John Bass said in March that the US absence from UNESCO had strengthened China. “So if we’re really serious about the digital-age competition with China … we can’t afford to be absent any longer,” he said. China's ambassador, Jin Yang, said of the US' reutrn, “Being a member of an international organisation is a serious issue, and we hope that the return of the US this time means it acknowledges the mission and the goals of the organisation.” There was no immediate response from the Israeli government. The US’s earlier withdrawal from the UN The United States previously pulled out of UNESCO under the Ronald Reagan administration in 1984 because it viewed the agency as mismanaged, corrupt and used to advance Soviet interests. It rejoined in 2003 under then President George Bush, who said, “As a symbol of our commitment to human dignity, the United States will return to UNESCO. This organisation has been reformed and America will participate fully in its mission to advance human rights and tolerance and learning.” (With AP inputs)
