Visiting mayors sign statement criticizing UNESCO

Visiting Israel as part of a conference organized by the American Jewish Congress and the American Council for World Jewry, a group of mayors from countries in North and South America, Europe and Africa signed a statement criticizing the recent adoption by two UNESCO committees of proposals that deny Jewish connections to Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and other holy sites in Israel.

The statement was to be presented to Netanyahu during the mayors’ meeting with the prime minister on Thursday afternoon.

The mayors, who are on a trip to Israel focused on innovation, resolved “to work to end politically inspired falsehood and distortions, and to speak the truth about all relevant history.”

The statement also called on UNESCO to “cease repeatedly exacerbating tensions, as evidenced by the most recent news of disputing Israeli heritage of the Dead Sea Scrolls, one of the major archaeological discoveries of the 20th century that sheds light on the biblical era.”