Italy to Vote with Israel over UNESCO Resolution While Germany Turns its Back on Jewish State

"The United Nations' cultural agency is set to pass a resolution on Tuesday - Israel's 69th Independence Day - that indicates rejection of the Jewish state's sovereignty in any part of Jerusalem. The resolution also harshly criticizes the government for various construction projects in Jerusalem's Old City and at holy sites in Hebron, and calls for an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza without mentioning attacks from the Hamas-run Strip.

Submitted to UNESCO's Executive Board by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan, the resolution on 'Occupied Palestine' will most likely pass, given the automatic anti-Israel majority in the 58-member body...

According to Israeli officials, Germany was a driving force behind a deal that would see all EU states abstain in exchange for the removal of the most incendiary anti-Israel passages. But on Monday, Italy announced that it would vote against the resolution, apparently ending the effort to forge a European consensus.

'This [Italian stance] is without a doubt a positive development, which should tell the Germans that negotiating over a joint text with the Arabs is a mistake not just in Israel's view but also in the eyes of several countries in the European Union,' Israel's ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama-Hacohen, told The Times of Israel.

'Now we are focusing on our mission to make sure Italy will the first but not the last country to announce it does not want to be part of this deal with the Arabs and vote against the resolution.'..."