Washington announces leaving UNESCO again

PARIS — The United States announced on Tuesday it will again pull out of the UN's educational, scientific and cultural agency because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias, only two years after rejoining.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the withdrawal was linked to UNESCO's perceived agenda to "advance divisive social and cultural causes". She added in a statement that UNESCO's decision "to admit the 'State of Palestine' as a member state is highly problematic, contrary to US policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organization."

This will be the third time that the United States has left UNESCO, which is based in Paris, and the second time during a Trump administration. President Donald Trump had already pulled out during his first term and the United States returned after a five-year absence after the Biden administration applied to rejoin the organization.