The Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic on Tuesday rejected a new UNESCO resolution for denying Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem, and called on the Czech government to stop its payments to UNESCO.
The Deputy Speaker Jan Bartosek said the resolution "confirms a permanent, biased and hostile stance of UNESCO on one of its member states as well as an unacceptable politisation of this organization."
"The only possible sanction against this organization is that we stop supporting it financially," opposition lawmaker Jana Cernochova said. The contributions should not be paid until UNESCO gives up its hostile stance on Israel, she said.
Lawmaker Daniel Korte said UNESCO dealt with Jerusalem rather than with the destruction of heritage by the Islamic State terror group. He criticized UNESCO for not protesting against Arabs who damaged Jewish heritage sites.
In its resolution, the Chamber of Deputies said the Czech government should advocate a position respecting Jerusalem as the Israeli capital city and impede steps that distort historical facts and are motivated by an anti-Israeli spirit.
In its latest resolution, the UNESCO Executive Board earlier this month criticised Israel for excavations in East Jerusalem, which it considers them a violation of international law.
Last October, the Chamber of Deputies denounced a similar UNESCO resolution on cultural heritage in Jerusalem proposed by Arab countries. It said that the resolution ignored the Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and only used Arabic names for the holy sites in the Old City.
