UNESCO asking Israel to stay?

POLITICS: UNESCO said pushing for Israel to rethink exit, citing work to end bias. Audrey Azoulay invites Netanyahu to meet next month in New York to discuss a possible delay in Jerusalem leaving body after efforts to improve treatment of Israel (Raphael Ahren and Michael Bachner).

Netanyahu called Azoulay some three weeks ago and thanked her for her efforts to stop what he called the discrimination against Israel in the UN agency, Channel 10 reported Wednesday, citing a senior Israeli official.

The official was quoted as saying one of the ideas being examined in Jerusalem was not to cancel the withdrawal, instead delaying it by several months to check on the changes in the organization.

Netanyahu praised Azoulay for the fact that no anti-Israel resolutions have been passed at UNESCO for nearly a year, the report said. Shama-Hacohen also said Jerusalem recognized Azoulay’s efforts in this respect.

Good. It sounds as though there has been progress, not least due to the work of Ms. Azoulay.

I think that if UNESCO makes a genuine effort to address the problems, there is a good chance they can persuade both Israel and the U.S.A. to stay. We'll see.

Background here and links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.