"Is it possible that Israel’s fragile governing coalition and Joe Biden’s administration will rejoin the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)? Apparently so, according to recent media reports.
If true, such a policy shift would be a significant mistake in dealing with the United Nations generally, and a dramatic repudiation of hard-fought victories against efforts to have 'Palestine' declared a state by the UN rather than through direct negotiations with Israel...
UNESCO has long been among the most politicized UN organizations. Ronald Reagan withdrew America in 1983 because of UNESCO’s systematic anti-U.S. biases, and concern for its rampant anti-Semitism. Indeed, even as the Cold War later wound down, George H.W. Bush refrained from rejoining UNESCO, largely due to its deeply embedded anti-Israeli bias.
George W. Bush’s decision to return proved the error of thinking UNESCO capable of reform. Inevitably, despite clear forewarning of the disaster it was courting, UNESCO admitted the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a member state in 2011. Like its predecessor Palestine Liberation Organization, the PA palpably fails to meet customary international law requirements for 'statehood.'...
UNESCO membership might well be a non-event but for the evidence it provides of people’s views on larger issues. In 'A Man for All Seasons,' Thomas More says scornfully, 'it profit a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world….But for Wales?' We can say here, that it never profits either America or Israel to compromise their vital national interests.…But for UNESCO?"