Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister: ‘Welcome to (UNESCO’s) fake history’

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister told UNESCO members that if they “cherish history,” they must vote against a resolution tomorrow that rejects Israeli sovereignty. 

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely lambasted UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) for preparations to pass a resolution on Tuesday that rejects Israeli sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem.

“Tomorrow, even as we celebrate (our Independence Day), UNESCO will be voting against Israel’s right to sovereignty in its capital city, Jerusalem,” she said in a statement.

“This is absurd,” she added. “We have become used to the concept of ‘fake news.’ Well, welcome to ‘fake history.'”

As proposed by Arab states, the resolution’s original text said that “any action taken by Israel, the Occupying Power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction, and administration on the City of Jerusalem, are illegal and therefore null and void and have no validity whatsoever.”

“We, as Israelis, don’t need UNESCO’s approval of our history in our land,” Hotovely added. “However, for the countries voting tomorrow, I must say in the clearest terms: if you cherish history and affirm UNESCO’s duty to respect historical truth, there is no choice other than to vote against this latest attempt to subvert international institutions in order to attack Israel.”

The deputy foreign minister also noted the resolution will not only be passed on Israel’s Independence Day, but shortly before the capital celebrates its 50th anniversary of reunification.

“Tomorrow Israel is going to celebrate its 69th Independence Day,” Hotovely noted. “Israel will be celebrating 50 years to the reunification of Jerusalem and 3000 years of Jewish history in our historic capital.”