It was pretty obvious that Israel would pull out of UNESCO after Trump pulled the United States out. For a while now the relationship between Israel and UNESCO has not been an easy one.
When UNESCO declared holy sites in the West Bank and Jerusalem as World Heritage Sites, Israel was up in arms. The reason? There was no indication that Jewish history was considered or consulted when the sites were declared as world heritage sites. Benjamin Netanyahu had suspended Israel's involvement because of UNESCO's ongoing apparent failure to recognise Jewish history.
Now with the US pulling out, this is the excuse Israel needed to call a halt to Israel's continued membership.
US Ambassador to the UN cites reasons for withdrawal
According to a report in the Independent, Nikki Haley the US Ambassador to the UN said: "Taxpayers should no longer be on the hook to pay for policies hostile to our values and make a mockery of justice and common sense". The US is Israel's biggest backer historically, even under Obama, who was not exactly the best of friends with Netanyahu.
Trump has the backing of the Zionist wing of America's Christians and politically is classed as being on the right, so he would be closer to Israel.
It stands to reason the USA would accuse UNESCO of being against Israel, holding up as evidence, the recent UNESCO declarations of world heritage sites without mentioning Jewish history.
Is UNESCO anti-semitic?
Based on the evidence of UNESCO's attitude in the West Bank and Jerusalem, it is easy to accuse UNESCO of being against Israel. Israel's Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman has accused UNESCO of being anti-semitic and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the United States withdrawal from the organisation.
Could there be countries or individuals involved with UNESCO that are patently anti-semitic or against Israel? Organisations that are supposed to be objective can be infiltrated by people with an agenda. The question is how good is UNESCO's screening of infiltrators with a political, religious or racist bias?
Not mentioning Jewish history in the Middle East was bound to be a hot potato but possibly UNESCO was trying to find redress for the Palestinians.
Should UNESCO be the one seeking redress for the Palestinians when it is clearly the role of other UN bodies? However, if you look at each resolution passed against Israel they have no effect. Israel knows no military action will be taken against it for its treatment of Palestinians and the US standardly vetos such resolutions in Israel's favour.
Netanyahu: An authoritarian?
Netanyahu could be compared to Trump, Putin, Modi, Duterte, Kim Jong-un, Nicolas Maduro and Chinese President Xi-Jinping. All these seem to be alpha males quite happy to show off their prowess and toughness for the domestic audience at home and on the world stage.
Israel's leader has been called a fascist and it is easy to see why, given his political beliefs and actions in recent history.
Avigdor Lieberman, his Defence Minister, has been labelled far right calling for the deportation of all Palestinians at one stage. It seems Netanyahu's Likud, the governing party leans from the moderate right to the far right in its policies.
This is not the first time Mr Netanyahu has been the Prime Minister of Israel and he has always been controversial. Whether you agree with this politician or not he is a political survivor.
