Israel’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it was severing ties with three international organisations, including two UN agencies, following the United States’ withdrawal from 66 global bodies last week.
– The ministry added that its chief, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, had also instructed it to review Israel’s continued cooperation with an unspecified number of other organisations.
– In a statement on X, it said that “Sa’ar has decided that Israel will immediately sever all contact with the following UN agencies and international organisations.”
– It goes on to list UN Energy, the UN Alliance of Civilisations and the Global Forum on Migration and Development, which is not part of the United Nations system.
– On 8 January, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum ordering the withdrawal of the United States from 66 international organisations as they “no longer serve American interests,” the White House said.
– The order involved 31 United Nations organisations and 35 other entities and included the three bodies Israel withdrew from on Tuesday.
– For one, the UN Alliance of Civilisations, the foreign ministry accused it of not having invited Israel to participate, saying it had “instead for years been used as a platform for attacks against Israel.”
– It also called UN Energy “wasteful” and said the Global Forum on Migration and Development “erodes the ability of sovereign nations to enforce their own immigration laws.”