Image copyright AFP Image caption The Tomb of the Patriarchs is the second holiest site in Judaism and the fourth in Islam

Unesco has designated Hebron's Old City and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the occupied West Bank a Palestinian World Heritage site despite Israeli protests.

A resolution passed by a committee of the UN cultural agency also put them on a list of sites considered "in danger".

The Tomb of the Patriarchs - also known as the Ibrahimi Mosque - is revered by Jews, Muslim and Christians as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob's burial place.

It is the second holiest site in Judaism and the fourth in Islam.

It has been a flashpoint for decades, with several hundred Jewish settlers living in enclaves nearby, surrounded by some 200,000 Palestinians.

Palestinian diplomats had urged Unesco to fast track Hebron's inscription onto the List of World Heritage in Danger, accusing Israel of an "alarming" number of violations that included vandalism, property damage, and other attacks that had an impact on its authenticity and integrity.

Inscription would place the site under international standards of conservation, and would oblige Unesco to review its situation every year, they said.

Rare secret ballot

Israel had rejected the Palestinian allegations and complained that the resolution, which refers to Hebron's "Islamic history", denied a Jewish connection to the city.

The US had argued that the Tomb of the Patriarchs was "under no immediate threat" and that adding it to the list of sites in danger "risked undermining the seriousness such an assessment by Unesco should have".

It had also warned that the resolution might undermine efforts by US President Donald Trump to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Unesco's World Heritage Committee held a secret ballot on the Hebron resolution on Friday at its 41st annual summit in Krakow, Poland. The unusual step was requested by three member states.

Twelve ended up voting in favour, while three opposed it. Six abstained.

"Today, Palestine and the world, through Unesco, celebrate Hebron as part of world heritage, a value that transcends geography, religion, politics, and ideology," a Palestinian foreign ministry statement said.

"This vote celebrated facts and rejected the shameless high-profile political bullying and attempts at extortion."

'City of our fathers'

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who heads Israel's Unesco committee, denounced the vote and accused the UN agency of being a "political tool".

"The Jewish connection to Hebron goes back thousands of years. Hebron, the birthplace of King David's kingdom, and the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the first Jewish purchase in Israel and resting place of our forefathers - are our people's oldest heritage sites," he said.

"Unesco's resolution must be rejected, and our efforts to strengthen the city of our fathers increased," he added.

Hebron was divided between Israeli and Palestinian control under a 1997 agreement which saw Israel withdraw from 80% of the city. The Old City, and the tomb, are located in the Israeli sector.

Earlier this week, Israel protested against another resolution passed by the World Heritage Committee that referred to it as the "occupying power" in Jerusalem's Old City, which includes sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims.

The resolution kept the Old City and its historic walls on the List of World Heritage in Danger, and called on the Israeli authorities to "cease the persistent excavations, tunnelling, works and projects" that it stated were "illegal under international law". </s> WASHINGTON — Hours after UNESCO declared the Tomb of the Patriarchs, in the Old City of Hebron in the West Bank, an endangered Palestinian world heritage site, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the move was both “tragic” and an “affront to history,” and that the US would review its ties with the world body as a result of the decision.

On Friday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO) passed its second anti-Israel resolution in less than a week.

During the World Heritage Committee’s 41st annual summit, currently taking place in Krakow, Poland, twelve countries voted in favor of the Hebron decision while three opposed it and six countries abstained. Both the US and Israel protested vigorously against the motion.

The voting took place in secret, whereas in the past, votes to inscribe sites onto UNESCO’s World Heritage List are done by a show of hands among all the member states. But three countries — Poland, Croatia and Jamaica — requested a secret ballot, much to the objection of other countries.

“The UNESCO vote on Hebron is tragic on several levels. It represents an affront to history,” Haley said in a statement.

The resolution, she said, would stultify ongoing attempts by the Trump administration to renew Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, a major foreign policy priority for Washington.

“It undermines the trust that is needed for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to be successful,” she said. “And it further discredits an already highly questionable UN agency. Today’s vote does no one any good and causes much harm.”

She went on, “The United States is currently evaluating the appropriate level of its continued engagement at UNESCO.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the motion earlier Friday by calling the measure “another delusional UNESCO decision” and ordered that another $1 million be pulled from Israel’s UN funding to establish a museum showcasing Jewish heritage in Hebron.

Earlier this week, the World Heritage Committee passed a resolution denying Israeli claims to the Old City of Jerusalem. Although the text was much softer than similar resolutions passed in previous years, Israel condemned it strongly.

The United States has made an issue of UNESCO decisions in the past.

After the body admitted the Palestinians as a member state in 2011, former president Barack Obama withdrew US funding from the agency.

While the US is still on UNESCO’s 58-member Executive Board, it no longer has voting rights in its General Conference. </s> U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed a vote Friday by the World Heritage Committee of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization designating the Old City of Hebron, and the Cave of the Patriarchs, as ‘a World Heritage Site in Danger,’ registered under the government of the Palestinian Authority.

The draft resolution passed in a secret ballot with 12 approving, 3 opposed and 6 abstentions.

The resolution was passed, said Haley, “despite protests by the United States, Israel and other countries.

“The UNESCO vote on Hebron is tragic on several levels,” Haley said in a statement released by her office.

“It represents an affront to history. It undermines the trust that is needed for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to be successful. And it further discredits an already highly questionable UN agency.”

She added that the vote “does no one any good and causes much harm.”

In 2011, in compliance with statutory funding restrictions, the United States stopped funding UNESCO after it admitted the Palestinian Authority as a Member State, Haley noted. While the United States is still on the 58-member UNESCO Executive Board, it no longer has voting rights in the UNESCO General Conference.

“The United States is currently evaluating the appropriate level of its continued engagement at UNESCO,” she said.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder also condemned the decision, calling it “the latest Palestinian attempt to exploit the UN for political manipulation.”

He added that “it demonstrates a severe abuse of the emergency mechanism. “It is disconcerting that UNESCO member states have adopted yet another cynical distortion of reality, a subversive attempt to rewrite history and deem the Old City of Hebron as a Muslim-Palestinian site alone while denying its historic and religious importance to Jews and Christians.”

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations weighed in as well. “[The] resolution on the Cave of the Patriarchs and Hebron disregarded the facts presented in a report by UNESCO’s own independent panel of experts and ignored their recommendation against adding them to the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger at this time,” Conference Chairman Stephen M. Greenberg and Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Malcolm Hoenlein said in a joint statement.

The New York-based Anti-Defamation League likewise condemned the vote, pointing out that the Palestinian Authority had once again showed it is not a serious partner to peace.

“UNESCO unfortunately succumbed to the manipulations of the Palestinian Authority to politicize holy sites,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO.

“The international community should be aware that efforts such as the Palestinian campaign to claim holy sites through UNESCO, not only undermines efforts to build Israeli-Palestinian trust, but reinforces the perception among Israelis and Jews around the world that the Palestinians do not recognize the Jewish connection to Israel and are not serious partners to peace.” </s> 39 US lawmakers urge UNESCO to oppose resolution denying Jewish heritage in Jerusalem

(JTA) — Thirty-nine members of Congress have urged a United Nations agency to oppose a resolution that diminishes Jewish and Christian ties to the Old City of Jerusalem.

A letter signed by Democratic and Republican lawmakers from the House of Representatives and Senate was sent earlier in the week to the executive board of UNESCO, the world body’s educational, scientific and cultural Organization, which is set to discuss the resolution on Thursday while meeting in Paris. A discussion and vote on the controversial resolution was postponed from the board’s meeting in July.

The UNESCO resolution reportedly refers to the Temple Mount several times as Al Haram Al Sharif, the Islamic term for the Temple Mount, without mentioning that it is the holiest site in Judaism, according to UN Watch. It also uses the term Buraq Plaza, placing Western Wall Plaza in quotes, appearing to deny a Jewish connection to the site. The Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron is referred to as the al-Ḥaram al-Ibrahimi and Rachel’s Tomb, outside Bethlehem, is noted as the Bilal ibn Rabaḥ Mosque.

A similar resolution was adopted by UNESCO’s executive board in April.

“UNESCO’s mission is to build intercultural understanding through protection of heritage and support for cultural diversity. This unnecessarily divisive and selective resolution undermines the very purpose and integrity of UNESCO by seeking to rewrite Jerusalem’s history, rejects Jerusalem’s multi-cultural heritage, and undercuts Jerusalem’s extraordinary diversity,” the U.S. lawmakers’ letter says.

It adds: “Attempting to erase the Jewish and Christian connection to this sacred city will further damage the prospects of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. It is incumbent upon all Member States of the Executive Board to respect and protect the religious, cultural, and historical significance of Jerusalem as they would all other World Heritage sites and to uphold the values and ideals enshrined in UNESCO’s Constitution.”

In a statement, Ros-Lehtinen called the resolution “irresponsible and reprehensible,” and said it “falsely lays the blame for the violence on Israel since last October while ignoring the acts of terror and violence that are being incited by the Palestinian Authority and Abu Mazen,” the nom de guerre for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Cruz said in a statement: “The United Nations’ obsessive hostility towards Israel will be on display yet again this week as UNESCO considers another blatantly biased resolution that unjustly singles out our close ally Israel with false accusations and criticism, and attempts to erase the specific deep-rooted, historical connection of Jews and Christians to Jerusalem, Israel’s eternal capital.” Cruz said in a statement.

Ros-Lehtinen and Cruz also sent a separate letter to Samantha Powers, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Crystal Nix-Hines, the U.S. envoy to UNESCO, urging them to use the “full voice, vote, and influence of the United States to defeat the measure.”

During an event Thursday at the president’s residence in Jerusalem in honor of the upcoming holiday of Sukkot, Reuven Rivlin also addressed the upcoming UNESCO vote.

“The festivals of Israel all highlight the inextricable bond between our people and our land, and no forum or body in the world can come and deny the connection between the Jewish people, the Land of Israel and Jerusalem – and any such body that does so simply embarrasses itself,” he said, adding: “We can understand criticism, but you cannot change history.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s Foreign Ministry has asked the Holy See, which holds nonvoting observer status at UNESCO, to assist in defeating the resolution, arguing that the resolution also harms Christians, Ynet reported. </s> (JTA) — A United Nations agency in a preliminary vote has passed a controversial resolution that denies a Jewish connection to the Old City of Jerusalem.

UNESCO — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — at its executive board’s meeting Thursday in Paris passed the Palestinian-backed measure with 24 votes in favor and 6 against, with 26 countries abstaining.

The United States, the United Kingdom and Germany were among those that voted against the resolution. They were joined by Lithuania, the Netherlands and Estonia. Other European countries abstained.

A final vote reportedly will be taken early next week.

Israel’s permanent delegate to UNESCO, Carmel Shama Hacohen, said of the vote, according to Ynet: “Israel and the Jewish people don’t require UNESCO’s or any other country’s confirmation of the special connection between the Jewish people and the State of Israel and Jerusalem in general and the holy sites therein like the Western Wall and the Temple Mount in particular.

“There is no connection of another people to another place in the world that comes close to the strength and depth of our connection to Jerusalem from a religious, historical and national perspective, a connection that has stood the test of 2,000 years.”

Discussion and a vote on the resolution were postponed from the board’s meeting in July.

The UNESCO resolution reportedly refers to the Temple Mount several times as Al Haram Al Sharif, the Islamic term for the Temple Mount, without mentioning that it is the holiest site in Judaism, according to UN Watch. It also uses the term Buraq Plaza, placing Western Wall Plaza in quotes, appearing to deny a Jewish connection to the site. The Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron is referred to as the al-Ḥaram al-Ibrahimi and Rachel’s Tomb, outside Bethlehem, is noted as the Bilal ibn Rabaḥ Mosque.

A similar resolution was adopted by UNESCO’s executive board in April.

During an event Thursday at the president’s residence in Jerusalem in honor of the upcoming holiday of Sukkot, Reuven Rivlin also addressed the upcoming UNESCO vote.

“The festivals of Israel all highlight the inextricable bond between our people and our land, and no forum or body in the world can come and deny the connection between the Jewish people, the Land of Israel and Jerusalem – and any such body that does so simply embarrasses itself,” he said, adding: “We can understand criticism, but you cannot change history.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s Foreign Ministry has asked the Holy See, which holds nonvoting observer status at UNESCO, to assist in defeating the resolution, arguing that the resolution also harms Christians, Ynet reported.

Earlier in the week, 39 Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers sent a letter initiated by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., to the UNESCO executive board urging it to reject the proposal, which the letter called “unnecessarily divisive and selective,” and said would “further damage the prospects of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.” </s> JERUSALEM -- Israel suspended cooperation with UNESCO on Friday, a day after the United Nations cultural agency adopted a draft resolution that Israel says denies the deep historic Jewish connection to holy sites in Jerusalem.

UNESCO's draft resolution, titled "Occupied Palestine" and sponsored by several Arab countries, uses only the Islamic name for a hilltop compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims, which includes the Western Wall, a remnant of the biblical temple and the holiest site where Jews can pray. The validated resolution is expected early next week, but the wording is unlikely to change.

The draft resolution diminished the links to Judaism of two important holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City.

The text refers to the site known by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and by Jews as the Temple Mount only by its Muslim name. The draft resolution refers to the Muslim site of Al-Buraq Plaza without quotations, but puts the site's Jewish name, the Western Wall Plaza, in quotations.

"Following the shameful decision by UNESCO members to deny history and ignore thousands of years of Jewish ties to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, I have notified the Israel National Commission for UNESCO to suspend all professional activities with the international organization," Bennett said.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said he was "outraged" by the resolution. "Would UNESCO vote to deny the Christian connection to the Vatican? Or the Muslim connection to Mecca? The UNESCO vote claims that there is no connection between the Jewish people and the Western Wall. In fact, it is the UNESCO vote that has no connection to reality."

UNESCO chief Irina Bokova expressed dismay with the draft resolution, which came from member states, saying that "different peoples worship the same places, sometimes under different names. The recognition, use of and respect for these names is paramount."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dubbed the resolution "absurd" after it was announced and on Friday tweeted: "What's next? A UNESCO decision denying the connection between peanut butter and jelly? Batman and Robin? Rock and roll?"

Israel captured east Jerusalem, with sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians claim the territory as part of their future state, and its fate is one of the most contentious issues in the decades-old conflict.

Jews refer to the hilltop compound in Jerusalem's Old City as the Temple Mount, site of the two Jewish biblical temples. Muslims refer to it as al-Haram al-Sharif, Arabic for the Noble Sanctuary, and it includes the Al-Aqsa mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock. It is the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest in Islam, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Bokova condemned the religious and cultural divisions being played out in the U.N. body, which was created in part to further cross-cultural understanding.

"When these divisions carry over into UNESCO, an organization dedicated to dialogue and peace, they prevent us from carrying out our mission," she said.

Bokova has no official control over resolutions, which are sponsored and voted on by member-states.

Bennett, the Israeli minister, said Bokova's comments were insufficient and urged the body to take action.

"The moral support provided by UNESCO to terror will end only when the organization cancels yesterday's outrageous decision, which denies history to please Israel haters. Words are important, but they are not a replacement to the actions of the organization she heads."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's government in the West Bank welcomed the resolution, as did Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. A spokesman for Hamas, which is pledged to Israel's destruction, called the resolution a "step in the right direction."

Several countries hostile to Israel, such as Iran and Lebanon, voted in favor of the resolution -- as did Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel. Qatar and Oman also voted in favor.

Separately, Japan withheld dues for UNESCO, saying it wants to make sure the organization functions properly, a gesture seen as a protest against the registration for world heritage status of China's documents relating to the Nanking massacre.

Japan disputes China's historical views on the 1937 massacre of Chinese citizens by the Japanese military. China says up to 300,000 people were killed, while Japanese nationalists have largely played down or denied the incident. Japan also has criticized UNESCO's listing last year of Chinese Nanking documents as a memory of the world.

On Friday, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, when asked by a reporter, confirmed that Japan withheld UNESCO dues of nearly $40 million for this year. He refused to say whether it was to protest the agency's move to list the Chinese documents.

A Foreign Ministry official later said that Japan is watching to see if UNESCO is living up to its founding purpose of promoting peace among member nations through education, and will consider the timing of its payment while examining whether the U.N. body is operating appropriately.

Japan provides 9.7 percent of UNESCO budget, the body's second-largest donor after the U.S., which is at 22 percent. The U.S. has suspended its dues since 2011, when the "State of Palestine" began participating in UNESCO.

Information for this article was contributed by Mari Yamaguchi of The Associated Press. </s> JERUSALEM – Israel suspended cooperation with UNESCO on Friday, a day after the U.N. cultural agency adopted a draft resolution that Israel says denies the deep historic Jewish connection to holy sites in Jerusalem.

UNESCO’s draft resolution, titled “Occupied Palestine” and sponsored by several Arab countries, uses only the Islamic name for a hilltop compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims, which includes the Western Wall, a remnant of the biblical temple and the holiest site where Jews can pray. The validated resolution is expected early next week, but the wording is unlikely to change.

Israelis and many Jews around the world viewed it as the latest example of an ingrained anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.

The draft resolution, seen by The Associated Press, diminished the links to Judaism of two important holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The text refers to the site known by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and by Jews as the Temple Mount only by its Muslim name. The draft resolution refers to the Muslim site of Al-Buraq Plaza without quotations, but puts the site’s Jewish name, the Western Wall Plaza, in inverted commas.

“Following the shameful decision by UNESCO members to deny history and ignore thousands of years of Jewish ties to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, I have notified the Israel National Commission for UNESCO to suspend all professional activities with the international organization,” Bennett said.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said he was “outraged” by the resolution. “Would UNESCO vote to deny the Christian connection to the Vatican? Or the Muslim connection to Mecca? The UNESCO vote claims that there is no connection between the Jewish people and the Western Wall. In fact, it is the UNESCO vote that has no connection to reality.”

UNESCO chief Irina Bokova expressed dismay with the draft resolution, which came from member states, saying that “different peoples worship the same places, sometimes under different names. The recognition, use of and respect for these names is paramount.”

The spat is the latest in Israel’s rocky relations with UNESCO, which it accuses of making decisions out of political considerations.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, with sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians claim the territory as part of their future state, and its fate is one of the most contentious issues in the decades-old conflict.

Jews refer to the hilltop compound in Jerusalem’s Old City as the Temple Mount, site of the two Jewish biblical temples. Muslims refer to it as al-Haram al-Sharif, Arabic for the Noble Sanctuary, and it includes the Al-Aqsa mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock. It is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Bokova condemned the religious and cultural divisions being played out in the U.N. body that was created in part to further cross-cultural understanding.

“When these divisions carry over into UNESCO, an organization dedicated to dialogue and peace, they prevent us from carrying out our mission,” she said.

Bokova has no official control over resolutions, which are sponsored and voted on by member states.

Bennet, the Israeli minister, said Bokova’s comments were insufficient and urged the body to take action.

“The moral support provided by UNESCO to terror will end only when the organization cancels yesterday’s outrageous decision, which denies history to please Israel haters. Words are important, but they are not a replacement to the actions of the organization she heads.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s government in the West Bank welcomed the resolution, as did Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. A spokesman for Hamas, which is pledged to Israel’s destruction, called the resolution a “step in the right direction.”

Several countries hostile to Israel such as Iran and Lebanon voted in favor of the resolution – as did Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel. Qatar and Oman also voted in favor.

Amid stalled peace talks with the Palestinians and Iran’s growing regional influence, Netanyahu has been touting what he calls strong behind-the-scenes contacts with moderate Sunni countries. He hasn’t named them but they are presumed to be Saudi Arabia and smaller Gulf states.

The dispute over Jerusalem’s holiest site ignited a wave of violence this time last year. Since then, Palestinian attackers have killed 36 Israelis and two visiting Americans, mainly in stabbings. About 220 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, most of them identified as attackers by Israel. The Palestinians, as well as Israeli and international rights groups, say Israeli forces have in some cases used excessive force to subdue attackers.

Israel has blamed the violence on incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders, compounded on social media sites that glorify violence. The Palestinians say it is rooted in some 50 years of military rule and fading hopes for independence. </s> Image copyright AFP Image caption The Arab-backed resolution criticises Israel's activities at holy places in Jerusalem

The United Nations cultural agency has adopted a controversial resolution which makes no reference to Jewish ties to a key holy site in Jerusalem.

Unesco's executive board approved the Arab-sponsored resolution, which repeatedly refers to only the Islamic name for a hilltop complex which is also the holiest site in Judaism.

The site is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and Haram al-Sharif to Muslims.

The resolution caused Israel to freeze co-operation with Unesco last week.

The stated aim of the text was "the safeguarding of the cultural heritage of Palestine and the distinctive character of East Jerusalem".

It criticises Israel's activities at holy places in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

'Playing games'

But it is how it refers to the sites which prompted Israel to act against the cultural body.

While acknowledging the "importance of the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls for the three monotheistic religions", the document refers to the sacred hilltop only by the name "al-Aqsa Mosque/al-Haram al-Sharif" (Noble Sanctuary).

It is the location of two Biblical Jewish temples and is flanked by the Western Wall, venerated by Jews as part of the original supporting wall of the temple compound.

Haram al-Sharif is also the place where Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to Heaven, and is the third holiest site in Islam.

The draft refers to the precinct in front of the wall as "al-Buraq Plaza 'Western Wall Plaza'" - placing single quote marks only around "Western Wall", giving the name as it is known to Jews less weight than the one by which it is known to Muslims.

Unesco's executive board chairman Michael Worbs said on Friday he would have liked more time to work out a compromise.

He told Israeli television network Channel 10: "It's very exceptional what happened yesterday, and I'm sorry for that."

On Tuesday, Israel's Unesco ambassador, Carmel Shama Hacohen, accused the Palestinians of playing "games".

"This is the wrong place to solve problems between countries or people," he told AFP.

But Palestine's deputy ambassador to Unesco, Mounir Anastas, welcomed the adoption of the resolution, saying he hoped it would put pressure on the Israeli authorities to "stop all their violations", particularly the excavation of sites in and around the Old City.

Image copyright AP Image caption Israel's Unesco ambassador Carmel Shama Hacohen accused Palestinians of playing "games"

The resolution repeatedly denounced Israeli actions, including the use of force, imposition of restrictions on Muslim worshippers and archaeological work. Israel regards such criticism as politically motivated.

'Delusional decision'

It led Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett to say Unesco was ignoring "thousands of years of Jewish ties to Jerusalem" and aiding "Islamist terror".

Unesco chief Irina Bokova also criticised the draft resolution, saying "different peoples worship the same places, sometimes under different names. The recognition, use of and respect for these names is paramount".

However, Mr Bennett said Ms Bokova's statement was insufficient. "Words are important, but they are not a replacement to the actions of the organisation she heads," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Facebook post that Unesco had become a "theatre of the absurd" in taking "another delusional decision".

"To say that Israel has no connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall is like saying that China has no connection to the Great Wall of China or that Egypt has no connection to the pyramids. By this absurd decision, Unesco has lost what little legitimacy it had left." </s> (JTA) — The executive board of the United Nations cultural agency voted to adopt a controversial resolution that denies a Jewish connection to the Old City of Jerusalem.

The board reportedly formally approved the resolution on Tuesday morning in the final day of its meeting in Paris.

The approval comes five days after the resolution passed in a preliminary vote of the executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. In that vote, there were 2 4 votes in favor and 6 against, with 26 countries abstaining. The United States, the United Kingdom and Germany were among those that voted against the resolution. They were joined by Lithuania, the Netherlands and Estonia. Other European countries abstained.

On Monday, Mexico changed its vote from “in favor” to abstain, saying in a statement” “Changing the vote reiterates the recognition that the government of Mexico gives to the undeniable link of the Jewish people to cultural heritage located in East Jerusalem. It also reflects the deep appreciation that this government has for the Jewish community and in particular for their significant contributions to the welfare and economic, social and cultural development of Mexico.”

Mexico fired its Jewish ambassador to UNESCO, however, after Andre Roemer in a personal protest walked out of last week’s vote in Paris, leaving his deputy to cast the country’s vote.

Discussion and a vote on the resolution were postponed from the board’s meeting in July.

The UNESCO resolution reportedly refers to the Temple Mount several times as Al Haram Al Sharif, the Islamic term for the Temple Mount, without mentioning that it is the holiest site in Judaism, according to UN Watch. It also uses the term Buraq Plaza, placing Western Wall Plaza in quotes, appearing to deny a Jewish connection to the site. The Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron is referred to as the al-Ḥaram al-Ibrahimi and Rachel’s Tomb, outside Bethlehem, is noted as the Bilal ibn Rabaḥ Mosque.

A similar resolution was adopted by UNESCO’s executive board in April.
UNESCO declares the old city of Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs, both in the West Bank, as world heritage sites.