Foreign Ministry director Dore Gold writes an open letter to the United Nations envoys of various countries blasting the UN cultural body’s World Heritage Committee, which is set to vote on a controversial draft resolution challenging Jewish historical ties to the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount and calling for a return to the “historic status quo” on the holy site.
A similar resolution was adopted by the organization’s executive board in April, a move that infuriated Israel.
Israel’s Consul-General in Istanbul Shai Cohen (left) meets with Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director-General Dore Gold and Bureau Chief Gilad Cohen on March 21, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. (MFA)
“Again, UNESCO is considering the adoption of a completely one-sided draft resolution on the Old City of Jerusalem that deliberately ignores the historical connection between the Jewish people and their ancient capital,” Gold writes in his letter. “The resolution also fails to acknowledge Christianity’s ties to Jerusalem. It refers to the area of the Temple Mount only as a ‘Muslim holy site of worship.’”
The letter goes on to detail the Jewish people’s historic connection to the city and argues that Israel “defends religious freedom for all of the great faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – against the tide of intolerance sweeping the Middle East region.”
It says that “UNESCO’s adoption of utterly false allegations about Israeli archaeological practices is misplaced and hypocritical, at best” and urges the UN envoys to “oppose this effort to distort history.”
— Times of Israel staff contributed
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this