"THE US has abruptly cut off funding to UNESCO after Palestine was accepted as a member of the organisation in its push for international recognition".
Following a legal requirement to cease funding, the US State Department confirmed yesterday that the Obama administration would not make the $US60 million ($57m) payment to UNESCO that is due this month.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the vote to admit Palestine by UNESCO's member states was "regrettable, premature and undermines our shared goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East".
The UNESCO vote at the organisation's headquarters in Paris follows the frustrated campaign by the Palestinian leaders to gain full recognition for Palestine as a state during the September session of the UN in New York.
Palestine won the right to join the UN's educational, scientific and cultural organisation yesterday in a 107-14 vote. Australia and Canada were among those joining the US in opposition. There were 52 abstentions, including Britain and Japan.
Free trial
After the vote, many delegates jumped to their feet and cheered. One reportedly called out in French: "Long live Palestine!"
Washington's UNESCO funding cut is a big financial blow to the organisation because the US has provided 22 per cent of its funding.
In a letter to The Washington Post, UNESCO director Irina Bokova asked the US not to punish the organisation, saying it supported many causes important to US security interests -- from Afghanistan to Iraq -- and Palestine's membership should not be allowed to derail them.
"We are helping governments and communities prepare for life after the withdrawal of US military forces," Ms Bokova said.
UNESCO member countries would have been in no doubt about the US position as Israel's closest ally.
A law passed by the US congress in 1994 banned funding for any "affiliated organisation of the UN which grants full membership as a state to any organisation or group that does not have the internationally recognised attributes of statehood".
The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement yesterday dismissing the UNESCO admission as a "unilateral Palestinian move which will bring no change on the ground but further removes the possibility for a peace agreement".
The US legal requirement to end the funding avoided any diplomatic difficulty for the Obama administration in how to deal with the situation.
But the Obama administration has made it abundantly clear it will use its veto power in the UN Security Council to block any unilateral push for Palestinian statehood in the absence of a mutual agreement with Israel on borders and security.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the UNESCO vote was premature and undermined efforts directed at reaching a comprehensive peace agreement in the Middle East.
The UNESCO vote to admit Palestine comes as violence increased on the border between Israel and Gaza. Over the past few days Palestinian militants have fired rockets into Israel, prompting Israeli airstrikes in retaliation.
