State Department Standing By Decision To Defund UNESCO

The State Department is defending the Obama administration’s decision to withhold funding from UNESCO following the UN agency’s vote to admit Palestine as a member state.

During a briefing Tuesday, spokesperson Victoria Nuland said that the State Department “regrets” discontinuing funding to UNESCO but would “maintain its position” and continue to oppose Palestinian efforts to be recognized in other UN agencies.

The Palestinians’ bid for membership in the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization passed overwhelmingly on Monday. 107 countries voted to admit Palestine as a member; 14, including the United States, voted no. Meanwhile, 52 other countries abstained.

Nuland announced shortly after the vote that the United States, which provides 22 percent of UNESCO’s funding, or $80 million annually, would not make its scheduled payment to the agency this month.

Congressional statutes passed in the 1990s prohibit the U.S. government from funding any UN agencies that grant statehood recognition to the Palestinians.

Nuland stated that Palestinian attempts to be recognized at the UN were only “aggravating tensions” in the region and not moving the Palestinians any closer to actual statehood. “The only way to statehood is at the peace table” with Israel, she said.

Still, Nuland faced questions on the decision by the State Department press corps. One reporter questioned the logic of cutting funding to UNESCO without leveraging funding to the Palestinian Authority to discourage the Palestinians from making recognition bids, decrying a “lack of critical thinking” in the Department.  Nuland responded that funding to the Palestinian Authority “supports peace, strengthens security, and strengthens local governance, which is particularly important right now.”

Other reporters asked why the U.S. opposed the Palestinians taking alternate routes to achieving the benefits of statehood, given the overall lack of progress in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Nuland reiterated that the Palestinians could only achieve statehood through negotiations with Israel.

On the question of whether the United States was prepared to defund other UN agencies that recognize Palestinian statehood in the near future, Nuland replied, “We hope that when the impact on UNESCO [of the cuts] becomes more fully understood, people will sober up. This funding is not a free gift.” Nuland added that the department “will continue working with our partners to head off the possibility” of other UN agencies recognizing Palestine as a member.

Nuland also confirmed that the State Department is having “conversations” with Congress about making exceptions for vital UN organizations such as the World Health Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency, but stated that it is a “very complex issue,” and that she had no timelines or predictions to offer on the conversation’s outcome.