The United States is again pulling out of the United Nations’ educational and cultural agency UNESCO because its involvement is not in the American national interest, and partly due to its promotion of “anti-Israel rhetoric.”
UNESCO, which functions with the mission to foster peace through international cooperation in key fields including education, science, and culture, regretted the decision.
The U.S. contribution to the agency’s work is about 8 percent and Washington’s decision to leave the body will take effect on December 31, 2026.
Washington had rejoined UNESCO in 2023 after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the body in his first term in 2018.
“President Trump has decided to withdraw the United States from UNESCO – which 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 spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.
The United States alleges that the Paris-based agency pursues “a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy”.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the U.S. move to disengage from UNESCO is based on the agency’s perceived agenda to “advance divisive social and cultural causes.”
In a statement, the spokesperson also noted that UNESCO’s decision “to admit the ‘State of Palestine’ as a Member State is highly problematic, contrary to U.S. policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organization.”
Commenting on the U.S. move, UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay said she “deeply regrets” Washington’s decision.
However, she remarked that the decision was “expected, and UNESCO has prepared for it”.
The cultural agency’s head refuted the U.S. accusations of anti-Israel bias.
“These claims … contradict the reality of UNESCO’s efforts, particularly in the field of Holocaust education and the fight against antisemitism,” she said.
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Huma Nisar is Associate Editor at Views and News
