The UN cultural agency on Friday declared the old city in the West Bank town of Hebron as a Palestinian world heritage site, a decision that angered Israeli officials, who say the move negated the deep Jewish ties to the Biblical town and its ancient shrine.
The move was the latest chapter in Israel’s contentious relationship with UNESCO, an agency it accuses of being an anti-Israeli tool that makes decisions out of political considerations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “another delusional decision by UNESCO.”
Both Jews and Muslims revere the same site in Hebron as the traditional burial place of the Biblical patriarchs and matriarchs.
Jews call it the Tomb of the Patriarchs, while for Muslims it is the Ibrahimi Mosque.
The 12-3 vote, with six abstentions, came on a secret ballot at a UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in Krakow, Poland.
The proposal was made by the Palestinian side.
Israel said that its historic links to Hebron were ignored.
Its ambassador to UNESCO left the session.
UNESCO spokeswoman Lucia Iglesias confirmed that Hebron’s old city was put on the agency’s World Heritage list and on the list of sites in danger.
She would not elaborate, saying the exact wording would be decided later.
The decision obliges the World Heritage committee to review the status of the site every year.
“This is a historical development because it stressed that Hebron and the Ibrahimi Mosque historically belong to the Palestinian people,” Palestinian Minister of Tourism Rula Maayah said.
Israeli Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Hotovely said UNESCO’s “automatic Arab majority succeeded in passing the proposed resolution that attempts to appropriate the national symbols of the Jewish people.”
“This is a badge of shame for UNESCO, who time after time chooses to stand on the side of lies,” Hotovely said.
Netanyahu said it was outrageous that UNESCO determined the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron “is a Palestinian site, meaning not Jewish, and that the site is in danger.”
“Not a Jewish site,” he asked sarcastically. “Who is buried there? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah — our patriarchs and matriarchs.”
Netanyahu said that while militants were blowing up religious sites in the Middle East, “it is only in those places where Israel is, such as Hebron, that freedom of religion for all is ensured.”
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the vote “does no one any good and causes much harm.”
“It represents an affront to history. It undermines the trust that is needed for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to be successful and it further discredits an already highly questionable UN agency,” Halry said in a statement.
She had sent a letter to two senior UN officials before the vote, urging them to withhold the designation from UNESCO, according to the US Mission to the UN.
Hebron is part of the West Bank, a territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Palestinians claim the West Bank is an integral part of a future independent state, while Israel says the territory’s fate should be resolved in negotiations.
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