BICOM

The Israeli Prime Minister announced on Friday that Israel would cut its grant to UNESCO by US$1m, in protest at a resolution that declared Hebron a Palestinian world heritage site in danger.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the resolution “delusional” and said the money would be given instead to a new Jewish heritage museum in Hebron. President Reuven Rivlin said that UNESCO seemed “intent on spreading anti-Jewish lies”.

The Prime Minister reinforced his point at the Sunday morning meeting of the Israeli cabinet by reading passages from the bible that describe the purchase of the tomb of the patriarchs in Hebron by Abraham as a burial site for his wife Sarah.

The vote at a UNESCO meeting in Krakow, Poland, was supported by 12 members, opposed by three with six abstentions.

The Palestinian Authority Foreign Ministry welcomed the resolution saying: “The world has recognised our right to register Hebron and the Ibrahimi Mosque [the Muslim term for the Tomb of the Patriarchs] under Palestinian sovereignty.”

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley issued a statement that strongly condemned the resolution. She said the vote was an “affront to history” and “undermines the trust that is needed for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to be successful … the United States is currently evaluating the appropriate level of its continued engagement at UNESCO”.

The Hebron resolution was the second in a week that appeared to deny Israeli claims to Jewish holy sites. UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee passed a resolution on Tuesday that ignored Israeli claims to the Old City of Jerusalem.