The United States has decided to pull out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization over alleged anti-American and anti-Israel bias, President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Tuesday, confirming earlier reports on the matter.
“UNESCO works to advance divisive social and cultural causes,” Department of State spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement about the decision, citing its prioritization of the UN’s “globalist and ideological” sustainable development goals, and claiming that UNESCO’s admission of the “State of Palestine” as a member state is “highly problematic, contrary to US policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organization.”
The move, which Israel hailed as a “necessary step,” is consistent with Trump’s policy of pulling his country out of international institutions he has long criticized.
White House deputy spokesperson Anna Kelly told The New York Post on Tuesday that UNESCO “supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes,” and Trump “will always put America First and ensure our country’s membership in all international organizations aligns with our national interests.”
The decision followed a 90-day review of Washington’s presence in UNESCO ordered by Trump in February, with a focus on examining any “antisemitism or anti-Israel sentiment within the organization,” the Post reported, citing a White House official.
Following the review, administration officials raised concerns over UNESCO’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, and over its pro-Palestinian and pro-Chinese leanings, the White House official said.
Among other grievances, the official pointed to measures taken by the UNESCO Executive Board that were viewed as anti-Israel and antisemitic, such as labeling Jewish holy sites “Palestinian World Heritage” locations, as well as the agency’s referring to “Palestine” as occupied by Israel, and denouncing Israel’s military actions against Hamas in Gaza while refraining from criticizing the terror group’s control of the Strip.
In response to the decision, set to be carried out in December 2026, UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay said Washington’s claims against the agency “contradict the reality of UNESCO’s efforts.”
Azoulay, a Jewish former minister of culture in France, highlighted the organization’s actions to promote Holocaust remembrance and combat antisemitism, saying “UNESCO is the only United Nations agency responsible for these issues.”
“Its work has been unanimously acclaimed by major specialized organizations such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, the World Jewish Congress and its American Section, and the American Jewish Committee. UNESCO has supported 85 countries in implementing tools and training teachers to educate students about the Holocaust and genocides, and to combat Holocaust denial and hate speech,” she said.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar hailed the US exit, saying, “This is a necessary step, designed to promote justice and Israel’s right for fair treatment in the UN system, a right which has often been trampled due to politicization in this arena.”
“Singling out Israel and politicization by member states must end, in this and all professional UN agencies,” Sa’ar added, saying that “Israel thanks the US for its moral support and leadership, especially in the multilateral arena which is plagued with anti-Israel discrimination.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, called the move “a proper response to UNESCO’s consistent anti-Israel bias — an organization that has lost its way.”
In 2019, during Trump’s first term, Israel and the US both quit UNESCO, two years after announcing their intent to withdraw due to disagreements with the agency’s policies, including its stance on Israel.
Azoulay added that the US currently provides about eight percent of UNESCO’s total budget, down from about 20% in the period before Trump first pulled Washington out of the agency.
At the time, Israel accused the organization of being biased against the Jewish state and of diminishing its connection to the Holy Land. In 2011, Israel also objected to UNESCO’s acceptance of Palestine as a member state.
Israel remains a party to the World Heritage Convention, and is home to six UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Masada, the Old City of Acre, the Bahai Temples in Haifa, and the “White City” of Tel Aviv.
Trump withdrew from several other international bodies in his first term, including the World Health Organization and the UN Human Rights Council, as well as from international treaties seeking to limit climate change and halt Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon. Many of these moves were reversed under his successor, Joe Biden.
Now back in the White House, Trump is once again pulling out of these global bodies. He has already decided to withdraw the US from the WHO and halt funding to the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA as part of a review of US participation in UN agencies due to be concluded in August.