RELIGION

Israel suspends cooperation with UNESCO over Jerusalem draft

Associated Press
Published | Updated

File - In this Dec. 13, 2013 file photo, the Western Wall, right, and the gilded Dome of the Rock, among the holiest sites for Jews and Muslims, are covered in snow. Israel has suspended cooperation with UNESCO on Friday, Oct. 14, 2016, 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, 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. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic, File) (The Associated Press)

File - In this Dec. 13, 2013 file photo, the Western Wall, right, and the gilded Dome of the Rock, among the holiest sites for Jews and Muslims, are covered in snow. Israel has suspended cooperation with UNESCO on Friday, Oct. 14, 2016, 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, 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. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic, File) (The Associated Press)

Israel is suspending cooperation with UNESCO 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.

Minister Naftali Bennett said Friday: "I sincerely hope UNESCO will stop this fiasco and stop denying history."

UNESCO's draft resolution, sponsored by several Arab countries, diminishes Jewish ties to the Western Wall, a remnant of the biblical temple compound and the holiest site where Jews can pray, and to the plaza that Jews revere as the Temple Mount. The validated resolution is expected early next week, and could comprise changes in wording

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.