UNESCO Remains Detrimental to U.S. Interests Despite Attempts at Reform

The clock is ticking. Wednesday, March 19, marks the halfway point for the Trump administration’s 90-day review of U.S. contributions to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Despite the Biden administration’s attempts to reform the troubled body, its hostility to Israel and influence by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) remain unabated. These problems run directly counter to U.S. interests and values.

History of U.S. Policy Toward UNESCO

In 1983, Ronald Reagan was the first U.S. president to pull out of UNESCO, arguing that the body “exhibited hostility toward a free society” and “demonstrated unrestrained budgetary expansion.” President George W. Bush rejoined in 2003, claiming the organization had reformed.

Then, in 2011, following UNESCO’s recognition of a Palestinian state, the Obama administration cut all UNESCO funding in compliance with a federal law prohibiting funding to any UN body that recognized a Palestinian state in the absence of a negotiated peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis. The funding cut represented over 20 percent of UNESCO’s budget.

Despite withdrawing funding, Obama decided to remain a member state, hoping this would allow Washington to maintain some influence. However, Obama’s decision resulted in America accumulating arrears in unpaid dues. In 2017, the first Trump administration withdrew from UNESCO due to egregious anti-Israel bias and concern for the growing arrears, which had reached $500 million.

President Biden rejoined UNESCO in 2023, obtaining a congressional waiver allowing the president to resume funding despite the organization’s recognition of a Palestinian state. Biden committed to fund the equivalent of 22 percent of the organization’s budget and to repay the arrears, which had ballooned to $619 million. Despite significant financial investment from Washington — UNESCO’s annual budget was $1.5 billion in 2022 — the Biden policy had lackluster results, prompting the current Trump administration’s 90-day review.

UNESCO’s Hostility to Israel

UNESCO’s most recognizable program is its list of World Heritage Sites, intended to promote historical and cultural preservation. Yet UNESCO has perverted the list by attempting to erase the Jewish connection to the land of Israel.

UNESCO went so far as to deny the Jewish connection to Judaism’s holiest site, the Temple Mount. In 2016, UNESCO voted to retain the “endangered” status of Jerusalem’s walled Old City, which contains religious sites revered by Muslims, Christians, and Jews. However, when referring to the Temple Mount, UNESCO referred to the site only as Haram al-Sharif — the name that Muslims began attributing to the Temple Mount compound in the Middle Ages.

In 2017, in the move that prompted Trump to withdraw from UNESCO, the UN body recognized the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem as “Palestinian sites,” stripping them of their Jewish heritage. In 2023, UNESCO added the city of Jericho to the World Heritage List as a property of the State of Palestine. It made no mention of the fact that Jericho was a biblical city, mentioned in the Old and New Testaments, and rich in Jewish history.

UNESCO’s Whitewash of the CCP’s Persecution of the Uyghurs

UNESCO has been complicit in the Chinese genocide against Uyghurs, providing cover as the CCP has attempted to erase Chinese minority culture amid broader efforts to install “cultural security” as a key aspect of national security policy. UNESCO has a mandate to report cultural destruction but has turned a blind eye as the CCP has demolished or damaged thousands of Uyghur mosques, outlawed Uyghur cultural practices, and systematically appropriated Uyghur and other Chinese minority heritage sites.

Trump Should Not Waste Political Capital on UNESCO Reform

The Trump administration should terminate its membership in UNESCO and withdraw funding. Instead, Washington should focus U.S. efforts on reforming other salvageable parts of the UN system that, though flawed, are critical for U.S. global interests. At the same time, the United States should publicly make clear that the Jewish state retains legitimate and historic ties to the land of Israel, condemn the CCP’s human rights abuses, and condition the restoration of aid to UNESCO on dramatic and lasting reform.

Enia Krivine is the senior director of the Israel Program and the National Security Network at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Jake Schlanger is an intern in FDD’s International Organizations Program. For more analysis from the authors and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Enia on X @EKrivine. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on foreign policy and national security.