Israel’s Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-Hacohen laments the upcoming vote to elect a new leader of the cultural organization.
In a statement to The Times of Israel, Shama-Hacohen says the vote is “bad news for the organization and unfortunately also for Israel.”
Arab countries have long wanted to lead the organization, and in the current race, former Egyptian government minister Moushira Khattab and Qatar’s former culture minister Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari are leading contenders.
Israel has condemned UNESCO over what it says is an ingrained anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, where its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.
In his statement, Shama-Hacohen notes that today marked the first round of voting, and that “anything can happen.”
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 9, 2017
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