Israel last week went back on a decision to cut links with Unesco over a resolution on Jewish holy sites, with the foreign ministry blaming a “translation error” and saying ties were only partially suspended.
Israel’s deputy foreign minister had on Wednesday announced that the Jewish state would sever ties with the cultural organisation over its description of Rachel’s Tomb, a Jewish holy site near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, as a mosque.
“Israel has suspended cooperation with Unesco,” Danny Ayalon told Parliament, a statement from his office said.
But foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the statement ascribed to Mr Ayalon was incorrect, blaming a “hasty translation error” by the deputy minister’s office.
“We have not suspended cooperation with the whole organisation,” he said. “We are involved in a large number of projects with them and we want to continue, but we won’t work with them on any political resolutions regarding the Middle East.”
Last month, Unesco, the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, adopted a series of resolutions concerning holy sites located in the occupied West Bank, including one which referred to the Bethlehem tomb as Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque/Rachel’s Tomb.
The move infuriated Israel, and was immediately denounced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “absurd.”
In his statement, Ayalon blamed the Palestinians for being behind the resolutions, and said ties with Unesco would remain frozen until it repealed the decision to refer to the tomb as a mosque.
“The Unesco decision was made by the automatic Arab majority and was another attempt to delegitimise Israel instigated by the Palestinian Authority,” his statement said.
Mr Palmor said the decision would see Israel suspending all practical cooperation with Unesco teams seeking to access any of the sites in question, which include Rachel’s Tomb, Jerusalem’s Old City, the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, and the occupied Golan Heights.
“These resolutions have an operational part, so this means we are not going to cooperate on that level with any delegation which comes to look at a site mentioned in their recent resolution,” he said.
“They won’t have access to Israeli officials, they won’t get entry clearance – we will not cooperate over anything regarding that resolution.”
Rachel’s Tomb, built over what is believed to be the burial place of the biblical matriarch, is the third holiest site in Judaism, but also considered a holy place for Muslims.
Earlier this year, Israel announced plans to include Rachel’s Tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in a national heritage restoration plan, a decision which was criticised by Unesco as “escalating tension” in the area.
Israel defended the decision at the time, saying the plan involved only restoration work and promising there would be no attempt to change the delicate status quo at these sites.