As U.S. prepares to leave UNESCO over Israel bias, envoy urges deep reforms

"The chief US envoy at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said Saturday that anti-Israel bias and opaque bureaucracy are hobbling the UN cultural agency and urged deep reforms.

Chris Hegadorn made the appeal at the agency's Paris headquarters in one of the last major American speeches to UNESCO before the US withdraws next year.

Hegadorn said the decision to leave 'wasn't taken lightly' but was necessary because of budget reasons, UNESCO's inclusion of Palestine as a member and countries using the agency to advance their political agendas...

This week the US helped Israel foil yet another anti-Israel resolution with a series of delaying tactics. The resolution would have condemned Israel's handling of education in the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights. Similar resolutions have been passed by the UN's education agency since 2009.

Voting on the resolution on Thursday was not expected to last more than a few minutes and the Palestinians had the needed majority for it to pass. But Israel, with the help of the US, used every possible means to create a filibuster, including demanding a vote by name from each of the 196 countries which are members of UNESCO.

By the time the vote eventually took place, several of the delegates had left and the Palestinians no longer had their majority..."