Israeli leaders have responded with outrage to the "politically-motivated" decision by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee to place Jesus’ birthplace in the Palestinian authority-led West Bank territory of Bethlehem on an endangered list.
The committee voted in favour of the move to place the Church of the Nativity on its list of World Heritage in danger sites, following an emergency application by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, who claimed the celebrated site was at risk “due to continued Israeli occupation of the territory.”
Despite appeals to the committee at the sitting in St Petersburg last week by the Simon Wiesenthal Center who denounced the "irresponsible resolution," UNESCO spokesman Sue Williams confirmed members had voted 13-6 in favour of the motion, with two nations abstaining.
The affirmative vote signifies that the religious site “is in danger and requires support”, Williams confirmed.
Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement declaring the vote as "proof that UNESCO – the UN body for education, science and culture- is motivated by political and not cultural considerations," invoking Abbas’ acknowledged plan to achieve world recognition of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem as the basis of a Palestinian State, starting with UNESCO recognition of the most commonly recognised landmark in the Christian world.
UNESCO had previously voted to admit Palestine as a member state, to the vehement opposition of Israel and the US, but both motions were accepted after France publicly advocated an affirmative vote.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor had spoken out ahead of the vote in criticism of the decision to fast-track the application, which he claimed was a cynical attempt to “politicise the debate”, implying "Israel is to blame" for the deterioration of the basilica.
Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi meanwhile described the vote as “a welcome recognition by the international community of our historical and cultural rights in this land”, giving legitimacy to claims by its opponents that the PA would use this as a first step to bypassing peace negotiations and furthering its application to have Palestine statehood unaliterally declared by the UN. Israel has repeatedly advocated the granting of heritage status to the Church of Nativity, under proper procedure, rather than turning UNESCO "into a propaganda tool against Israel."
Furthermore, the World Heritage Committee’s technical advisory body had warned its parent committee that the Palestinian application did not meet emergency criteria.
Whilst the vote is decided by secret ballot, Palmor indicated that those approving the application were primarily Arab states, with western countries largely coming out in opposition to it.
France was the only open advocate of the decision with French Ambassador to UNESCO Daniel Rondeau saying an affirmative vote was "in line with his country’s policy since support for Palestine’s entry into UNESCO last October," which caused the US and Israel to withdraw financial backing for the organisation.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Director for International Relations Shimon Samuels had written a letter to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius protesting against French advocacy of the application, urging the delegation to "withdraw your support and, indeed, to vote against this irresponsible resolution."
The US ambassador to UNESCO, David Killion, said he was "profoundly disappointed by the decision."

EJP