US leaves UNESCO again, citing anti-Israel bias and woke causes

The US has said that it will leave the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, accusing it of supporting woke, divisive cultural and social causes. UNESCO’s Director General Audrey Azoulay described the decision as regrettable but anticipated. The move is the latest step in the Trump administration’s efforts to cut ties with international bodies, after removing the US from the World Health Organisation and the Paris Climate Agreement, as well as cutting funding for foreign relief efforts. UNESCO has 194 member states around the world, and is best known for listing world heritage sites. The US’s decision will take effect from December 2026. 
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the withdrawal was linked to UNESCO's perceived agenda to "advance divisive social and cultural causes." Bruce said in a statement that UNESCO's decision "to admit the 'State of Palestine' as a Member State is highly problematic, contrary to US policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organization." he UN agency "supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes that are totally out-of-step with the commonsense policies that Americans voted for in November," said Anna Kelly, White House assistant press secretary.
UNESCO has become one of several battlegrounds between Israel and the Palestinian Authority as Palestinians seek to gain recognition through international bodies and treaties despite warnings from Israel and the United States. Israel and the US argue that Palestine should not join international bodies or treaties until it reaches full statehood under an elusive peace deal with Israel.
In 2017, during his first presidency, Trump pulled the US out of UNESCO, but the decision was later reversed under Joe Biden’s administration.The United States previously withdrew from UNESCO in the 1980s, accusing it of a pro-Soviet bias, before rejoining in 2003.