On the occasion of Israel’s 69th Independence Day on May 2, the Israeli government received a priceless gift from one of the world’s most important organizations. The day before, the UNESCO executive committee adopted another resolution criticizing Israel on east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. What more can a country ask for on its festive day? Barely a week after commemorating the slaughter of 6 million Jews by the Nazis, UNESCO reminded the denizens of Zion that the entire world is still against us. To use a sports metaphor, UNESCO played directly into Israel’s hands.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first to identify the ball lobbed into his court. The fact that more states opposed this resolution than did a UNESCO resolution in October 2016 (10 voted against this time with 22 in favor; only six voted against last time with 24 in favor) did not spoil this cynic’s party. “We don’t believe in UNESCO,” Netanyahu declared heatedly during the annual international Bible quiz held in Jerusalem. At the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting held the following day, Netanyahu once again lashed out at UNESCO, called its resolution “absurd” and praised the across-the-board support by almost all of Israel’s political parties in rejecting the resolution.
