U.S. again withdraws from UNESCO, citing anti-Israel bias and "woke" causes

• The move further decreases the United States' footprint and influence in international organizations, and experts say the nation's exit will allow China to increase its influence on the UN system.
• The U.S. officially informed UNESCO of the decision on Tuesday, the State Department said.
• The U.S. withdrawal will take effect on Dec. 31, 2026. The U.S. will remain a full member of UNESCO until that time, the State Department said.

Behind the scenes: The U.S. move wasn't a surprise. In February, Trump ordered a review of the country's UNESCO membership, and a report was submitted to the White House in May.

• UNESCO's Director-General Audrey Azoulay expected Trump to again withdraw from the organization and tried to influence the decision through meetings with Vice President Vance, Republican donors, lawmakers and several Jewish organizations.
• In March, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to keep the U.S. in UNESCO and stating that Azoulay has "taken an active role in combating antisemitism, hate speech and anti-Israel bias" — all the concerns that led to the U.S. withdrawal in 2017.
• Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser also wrote to Rubio earlier this year, urging him to keep the U.S. in UNESCO, citing the need for more World Heritage sites in his state.

Zoom out: Sources with knowledge of the issue said that the Trump administration didn't engage with UNESCO on a high level in the weeks before the decision to withdraw.

• A U.S. official said Trump made the final decision to leave UNESCO last week.
• "Withdrawing the U.S. from UNESCO is a big present for those who don't want programs on Holocaust education and fighting antisemitism, for the enemies of Israel and for China," a diplomatic source with direct knowledge of the issue told Axios.

Catch up quick: After Palestine became a full member of UNESCO in 2011, the Obama administration stopped providing funding to the organization because it was barred to do so by U.S. law.

• Israel announced in October 2017 that it would leave the organization.
• In February 2022, the Israeli government notified the State Department that it wouldn't oppose a U.S. return to UNESCO. The Israeli position paved the way for some Democrats and Republicans in Congress to support the move.
• The U.S. rejoined UNESCO in July 2023 under then-President Biden in an effort to curb Chinese influence at the organization.

What they are saying: The U.S. is departing UNESCO since the organization "supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes that are totally out-of-step with the commonsense policies that Americans voted for in November," White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement.

• Trump "will always put America First and ensure our country's membership in all international organizations aligns with our national interests," she said.

• In its own statement, the State Department said, "continued involvement in UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States," and pointed to the organization's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as one of the reasons for the departure.
• UNESCO's involvement in "divisive social and cultural causes" and "outsized focus on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, a globalist, ideological agenda for international development [is] at odds with our America First foreign policy," the statement said.
• The statement also accused UNESCO of a "proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric."

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar welcomed the U.S. decision and called it "a necessary step, designed to promote justice and Israel's right for fair treatment in the UN system."

• A senior Israeli official said the Trump administration notified Israel of the decision in advance.

The other side: Azoulay said in a statement, "I deeply regret President Donald Trump's decision to once again withdraw the United States of America from UNESCO." She stressed it may impact "first and foremost our many partners" in the U.S.

• "The reasons put forward by the United States to withdraw from the organization are the same as seven years ago even though the situation has changed profoundly, political tensions have receded, and UNESCO today constitutes a rare forum for consensus on concrete and action-oriented multilateralism," she said.
• Azoulay said that after Trump's 2017 UNESCO withdrawal, the organization diversified its funding sources and that U.S. funding is only 8% of the organization's budget today.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional information throughout.