Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari, Qatar's candidate for the election of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization new leader, smiles at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, Wednesday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 PARIS (AP) — The United States is pulling out of UNESCO because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias and a need for "fundamental reform" of the U.N. cultural agency. 
 
 While the Trump administration had been preparing for a likely withdrawal for months, the announcement by the State Department on Thursday rocked UNESCO's Paris headquarters, where a heated election to choose a new director is under way. 
 
 The outgoing UNESCO chief expressed her "profound regret" at the decision and tried to defend the reputation of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions. 
 
 The U.S. stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member in 2011, but the State Department has maintained a UNESCO office and sought to weigh on policy behind the scenes. The U.S. now owes about $550 million in back payments. 
 
 In a statement, the State Department said the decision will take effect Dec. 31, 2018, and that the U.S. will seek a "permanent observer" status instead. It cited U.S. belief in "the need for fundamental reform in the organization." 
 
 Several diplomats who were to have been posted to the mission this summer were told that their positions were on hold and advised to seek other jobs. In addition, the Trump administration's proposed budget for the next fiscal year contains no provision for the possibility that UNESCO funding restrictions might be lifted. 
 
 The lack of staffing and funding plans for UNESCO by the U.S. have been accompanied by repeated denunciations of UNESCO by senior U.S. officials, including U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. 
 
 U.S. officials said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the decision and that it was not discussed with other countries but was the result of an internal U.S. government deliberation. 
 
 The officials, who were not authorized to be publicly named discussing the issue, said the U.S. is notably angry over UNESCO resolutions denying Jewish connections to holy sites and references to Israel as an occupying power. 
 
 Many saw the 2011 UNESCO vote to include Palestine as evidence of long-running, ingrained anti-Israel bias within the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters. 
 
 UNESCO's outgoing director-general, Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, called the U.S. departure a loss for "the United Nations family" and for multilateralism. She said the U.S. and UNESCO matter to each other more than ever now to better fight "the rise of violent extremism and terrorism." 
 
 She defended UNESCO's reputation, noting its efforts to support Holocaust education and train teachers to fight anti-Semitism — and that that the Statue of Liberty is among the many World Heritage sites protected by the U.N. agency. UNESCO also works to improve education for girls in poor countries and in scientific fields and to defend media freedom, among other activities. 
 
 Other UNESCO members did not immediately comment on the U.S. departure. 
 
 It's not the first time the U.S. pulled out of UNESCO: Washington did the same thing in the 1980s because it viewed the agency as mismanaged, corrupt and used to advance Soviet interests. The U.S. rejoined in 2003. 
 
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 Lee reported from Washington. ||||| PARIS (Reuters) - The United States and Israel announced on Thursday they were quitting the U.N.’s cultural agency UNESCO, after Washington accused it of anti-Israeli bias. 
 
 The withdrawal of the United States, which is meant to provide a fifth of UNESCO’s funding, is a major blow for the Paris-based organization, founded after World War Two to help protect cultural and natural heritage around the world. 
 
 UNESCO is best known for designating World Heritage Sites such as the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria and the Grand Canyon National Park. 
 
 “This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. 
 
 Hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would quit too, calling the U.S. decision “brave and moral”. 
 
 UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova expressed her disappointment: “At the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack,” she said. 
 
 “This is a loss to the United Nations family. This is a loss for multilateralism.” 
 
 Washington has already withheld its funding for UNESCO since 2011, when the body admitted Palestine as a full member. The United States and Israel were among just 14 of 194 members that voted against admitting the Palestinians. Washington’s arrears on its $80 million annual dues since then are now over $500 million. 
 
 Although Washington supports a future independent Palestinian state, it says this should emerge out of peace talks and it considers it unhelpful for international organizations to admit Palestine until negotiations are complete. 
 
 In recent years, Israel has repeatedly complained about what it says is the body taking sides in disputes over cultural heritage sites in Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories. 
 
 “Today is a new day at the U.N., where there is price to pay for discrimination against Israel,” Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said. 
 
 Netanyahu told world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly last month that UNESCO was promoting “fake history” after it designated Hebron and the two adjoined shrines at its heart - the Jewish Tomb of the Patriarchs and the Muslim Ibrahimi Mosque - as a “Palestinian World Heritage Site in Danger.” 
 
 An Arab-backed UNESCO resolution last year condemned Israeli’s policies at religious sites in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. 
 
 An American flag flies outside the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, France, October 12, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer 
 
 Under UNESCO rules, the U.S. withdrawal will become effective as of the end of December 2018. Three diplomats had told Reuters earlier on Thursday of the impending decision. 
 
 TRUMP EFFECT 
 
 The organization, which employs around 2,000 people worldwide, most of them based in Paris, has struggled for relevance as it becomes increasingly hobbled by regional rivalries and a lack of money. 
 
 UNESCO, whose full name is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, is in the process of selecting a new chief, whose priority will be to revive its fortunes. 
 
 Slideshow (15 Images) 
 
 The U.S. move underscores the scepticism expressed by President Donald Trump about the need for the U.S. to remain engaged in multi-lateral bodies. The president has touted an “America First” policy, which puts U.S. economic and national interests ahead of international commitments. 
 
 Since Trump took office, the United States has abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks and withdrawn from the Paris climate deal. Washington is also reviewing its membership of the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council, which it also accuses of being anti-Israel. 
 
 “The absence of the United States or any large country with a lot of power is a loss. It’s not just about money, it’s promoting ideals that are vital to countries like the United States, such as education and culture,” a UNESCO-based diplomat said, warning that others could follow. 
 
 For differing reasons, Britain, Japan and Brazil are among states that have yet to pay their dues for 2017. 
 
 Russia’s former envoy to UNESCO told RIA news agency the agency was better off without the Americans. 
 
 “In recent years, they’ve been of no use for this organization,” Eleanora Mitrofanova said. “Since 2011 they have practically not been paying to the budget of this organization... They decided to exit - this is absolutely in line with Trump’s general logic today.” 
 
 After four days of secret balloting to pick a new UNESCO chief, Qatar’s Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari qualified for the Friday runoff. 
 
 France’s Audrey Azoulay and Egypt’s Moushira Khattab were tied in second. One will be eliminated after another vote by 58-member Executive Council on Friday. If the two finalists end level, they draw lots. 
 
 The election has exposed deep rivalries between Qatar and Egypt that has its roots in the crisis engulfing Qatar and its Gulf Arab neighbors which have severed diplomatic, trade and travel ties with Doha after accusing it of sponsoring hardline Islamist groups, a charge Qatar denies. ||||| U.S. to Pull Out of UNESCO, Again 
 
 The United States plans to formally withdraw from UNESCO, the United Nations’ Paris-based cultural, scientific, and educational organization, to save money and protest what it views as the organization’s anti-Israel bias. 
 
 The move, which could be announced as early as next week, marks America’s further estrangement from an organization that it helped establish after World War II to widen access to education and ensure the free flow of ideas. The United States will maintain its presence at UNESCO as an observer state. 
 
 U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the decision several weeks ago and told French President Emmanuel Macron that Washington was considering leaving during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in late September on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Macron was seeking Trump’s support for a French candidate seeking the top job at UNESCO. 
 
 The State Department wanted to delay its departure until after UNESCO selects a new director-general this week. The two front-runners are a former French culture minister, Audrey Azoulay, and a Qatari diplomat, Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari. China’s nominee and early frontrunner, Qian Tang, has seen his candidacy crater. 
 
 France is looking for more than just U.S. support for Azoulay: It also wants continued global engagement from an administration that has been reluctant to do so. 
 
 “We hope the U.S. will take the decision to stay within UNESCO,” France’s U.N. ambassador, François Delattre, said in an interview Wednesday. 
 
 “For us, it is important to have the United States on board, including at UNESCO at this critical juncture,” he added. “We consider the U.S. must stay committed to world affairs.” 
 
 The Ronald Reagan administration decided to withdraw from the organization in 1984, at the height of the Cold War, citing corruption and what it considered an ideological tilt toward the Soviet Union against the West. President George W. Bush rejoined the organization in 2002, claiming it had gotten its books an order and expunged some of its most virulent anti-Western and anti-Israel biases. 
 
 “America will participate fully in its mission to advance human rights, tolerance, and learning,” he said at the time. 
 
 But six years ago, the United States cut off more than $80 million a year, about 22 percent of its entire budget for UNESCO, in reprisal for the organization’s acceptance of Palestine as a member. The Obama administration said it had to cut funds because a 1990s-era law prohibits U.S. funding for any U.N. agencies recognizing Palestine as a state. 
 
 Despite the funding cut, the United States remains a member of UNESCO and even has a vote on the executive board, which selects the new director-general. But the United States has and it continues to be charged tens of millions in dues each year, and it has lost its voting rights in UNESCO’s principal decision-making body, which is known as the General Conference. That body approves UNESCO’s budget and establishes a range of programs dealing with education, science, and culture around the globe. 
 
 As a result of U.S. funding cuts, U.S. arrears have been swelling each year, surpassing $500 million that’s owed to UNESCO. Tillerson wants to stop the bleeding. 
 
 But the fundamental strain is over UNESCO’s approach to Israel. Last year, Israel recalled its ambassador to UNESCO in protest after Arab governments in the organization secured support for a resolution denouncing Israel’s policies regarding religious sites in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. 
 
 And in July, UNESCO declared the old city in Hebron, a West Bank town that includes the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a Palestinian World Heritage Site, a move Israel claims negates Judaism’s links to the biblical town. 
 
 Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images ||||| PARIS — The United States lost its vote at Unesco on Friday, two years after cutting off its financial contribution to the organization over the admission of Palestinians as full members. The move undermined America’s ability to exercise its influence in countries around the globe through the United Nations agency’s educational and aid programs, according to Western diplomats and international relations experts. 
 
 Under Unesco’s constitution, any country that fails to pay dues for two years loses its vote in the Unesco general assembly. The United States ceased all support for the agency in 2011, in response to a vote at Unesco giving Palestinians full membership. Congress enacted laws in the 1990s decreeing that the United States stop providing money to any United Nations agency that accepts Palestinians as full members. 
 
 It was the first time that the United States had voluntarily given up its vote in an organization it belongs to, diplomats here said. 
 
 “I deeply regret this,” Irina Bokova, Unesco’s director general, said in an interview Friday at the agency’s headquarters here. “This is not some kind of punishment on behalf of Unesco for nonpayment. It’s just our rules. 
 
 “We’ve lost our biggest contributor; this has a bearing on all our programs,” she said, adding that it was not just a matter of financing. She said the agency would miss the voice of the United States on issues like freedom of expression and girls’ education. 
 
 Ms. Bokova, who has led the organization since 2009, traveled to Washington in 2011 to try to persuade American lawmakers to change the legislative language after the initial funding cutoff. The Obama administration tried to push through such a change last year, but failed. 
 
 The American ambassador to Unesco, David T. Killion, speaking at the Unesco general conference, now underway in Paris, noted that the United States had been involved in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization since its beginnings in 1945 and promised that it would remain involved. 
 
 He praised Unesco for its role in consensus and peace building, saying the agency was important for American work abroad. 
 
 “Unesco is a critical partner in creating a better future,” said Mr. Killion, adding that the Obama administration was committed to getting funding restored so that the United States could pay its dues and regain its position as a voting member. 
 
 Before withdrawing its financial support, the United States provided about $70 million, or 22 percent, of the agency’s annual budget, and the suspension was felt almost immediately. Some Unesco staff members were laid off and programs and projects delayed, including some that potentially could have benefited the United States. 
 
 To make up the shortfall, Ms. Bokova created an emergency fund and got contributions from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Norway and other countries. But she said she did not think that it would be possible to raise that money again this year. 
 
 Diplomats predicted subtle effects of the loss of America’s vote, as well as some obvious ones. 
 
 For instance, it is less likely that two American sites on the list to become World Heritage sites certified by Unesco will win approval. One is an ancient civilization site known as Poverty Point, in northeastern Louisiana, and the other is a group of Spanish missions dating from the 18th century in San Antonio. The Texas project was expected to create at least a thousand jobs, and both sites were expected to benefit from increased tourism. 
 
 More far-reaching is the loss in the United States’ ability to exercise soft-power influence throughout the world, said Esther Brimmer, a former assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, who now teaches at George Washington University. 
 
 “Twenty years ago the U.S. was the only one; now there are other countries playing the soft-power game,” said Ms. Brimmer, noting that the Chinese deputy education minister had been elected head of Unesco’s general conference. 
 
 Ms. Bokova emphasized that the agency has given the United States a platform to promote democracy, education and human rights in places that are often hostile to or suspicious of direct American involvement. With the United States in a weakened position and Unesco with less money, she said, some of that influence will diminish.
– The US has long had dicey relations with the UN cultural organization UNESCO, and those relations have just taken another sour turn. The State Department announced Thursday that the US is pulling out of the organization at the end of next year, citing what it sees as an anti-Israel bias, concern over America's mounting back dues, and the "need for fundamental reform," reports the Hill. Though it won't be a full member, the US will maintain a lesser role with "observer" status. Details: Not the first time: Ronald Reagan severed ties with UNESCO in 1984, accusing the group of having a pro-Soviet bias and of being plagued with corruption, notes Foreign Policy. George W. Bush reinstated ties in 2002, saying the organization had made the necessary reforms and corrected an anti-Israel bias. About Israel: The US stopped paying $80 million in annual dues in 2011 after UNESCO accepted Palestine as a member. And this summer, UNESCO recognized the old city of Hebron in the West Bank as a Palestinian World Heritage Site over the objections of the US and Israel. Those unpaid dues, meanwhile, now add up to about $550 million in back payments, reports the AP, and the US wants to stop the amount from growing. UNESCO mission: The organization, formed after WWII and based in Paris, is perhaps best known for the aforementioned World Heritage operation, which designates cultural sites worthy of preservation. (The Statue of Liberty and the Grand Canyon are among them.) Beyond that, the broad mission is in the name: the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. One example is improving girls' access to education. The group has 195 member nations and is currently in the process of picking a new leader, per the Washington Post. Trump pattern? Reuters sees the move as in line with the Trump administration's embrace of "America First" and its corresponding disdain of engaging with international bodies. It cites the disavowal of the TPP trade deal and the Paris climate accord, as well as the potential ditching of NAFTA. 'Profound regret': UNESCO chief Irina Bokova voiced "profound regret" at the decision in a statement. "At the time when the fight against violent extremism calls for renewed investment in education, in dialogue among cultures to prevent hatred, it is deeply regrettable that the United States should withdraw from the United Nations agency leading these issues."