Israel is discussing the possibility of its return to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) after it withdrew from it (2017-2018).
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay in Paris and urged her to help protect Jewish sites in the West Bank.
“Jewish heritage sites in Judea and Samaria are being damaged and desecrated, and UNESCO, responsible for preserving heritage sites around the entire world, must act to prevent harm to sites that represent the history of the Jewish people,” Cohen said in a statement.
It is worth highlighting that Israel left UNESCO over its anti-Israel positions in 2019. Azoulay, a French-Moroccan Jew, affirmed that she is working to depoliticize the body and sees Israel’s return as holding great importance.