U.S. again withdraws from UNESCO, citing anti-Israel bias and "woke" causes
Why it matters: This is the third UN agency the Trump administration is withdrawing from following decisions earlier this year to leave the World Health Organization and the Human Rights Council.
The move further decreases U.S. footprint and influence in international organizations, and experts say the nation's exit will allow China to increase its influence on the UN system.
The U.S. officially informed UNESCO of the decision on Tuesday, the State Department said.
The U.S. withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2026. The U.S. will remain a full member of UNESCO until that time, the State Department said.
Behind the scenes: The U.S. move wasn't a surprise. In February, Trump ordered a review of the country's UNESCO membership, and a report was submitted to the White House in May.
A U.S. official said Trump made the final decision last week.
UNESCO's Director-General Audrey Azoulay expected Trump to again withdraw from the organization. In February, she met with Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference in an effort to influence the administration's perspective, a source with knowledge of the meeting told Axios.
In a statement, Azoulay said that after Trump's 2017 UNESCO withdrawal, the organization diversified its funding sources and that U.S. funding is only 8% of the organization's budget today.
Catch up quick: After Palestine became a full member of UNESCO in 2011, the Obama administration stopped providing funding to the organization because it was barred to do so by U.S. law.
In October 2017, the Trump administration announced it was leaving UNESCO over what it described as anti-Israel bias. Israel announced that it would leave the organization not long after.
In February 2022, the Israeli government notified the State Department that it wouldn't oppose a U.S. return to UNESCO. The Israeli position paved the way for some Democrats and Republicans in Congress to support the move.
The U.S. rejoined UNESCO in July 2023 under then-President Biden.
What they are saying: The U.S. is departing UNESCO since the organization "supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes that are totally out-of-step with the commonsense policies that Americans voted for in November," White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement.
Trump "will always put America First and ensure our country's membership in all international organizations aligns with our national interests," she said.
It it's own statement, the State Department said "continued involvement in UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States," and pointed to the organization's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as one of the reasons for the departure.
UNESCO's involvement in "divisive social and cultural causes" and "outsized focus on the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals, a globalist, ideological agenda for international development [is] at odds with our America First foreign policy," the statement said.
The statement also accused UNESCO of a "proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric."
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar welcomed the U.S. decision and called in "a necessary step, designed to promote justice and Israel's right for fair treatment in the UN system."
A senior Israeli official said the Trump administration notified Israel of the decision in advance.
The other side: Azoulay said in a statement she "deeply regrets" Trump's decision and stressed it may impact "first and foremost our many partners in the U.S."
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