WASHINGTON / PARIS - The United States announced Tuesday its decision to pull out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization two years after rejoining.

According to a statement by the US State Department, the withdrawal was due to what Washington saw as the UN cultural agency's policy to "advance divisive social and cultural causes" over the Israel-Palestine conflicts.

"UNESCO's decision to admit the 'State of Palestine' as a member state is highly problematic, contrary to US policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organization," the statement said.

The US exit will take effect at the end of December 2026.

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Meanwhile, UNESCO said Tuesday the US exit was regrettable but came as no surprise.

"However regrettable, this announcement was expected, and UNESCO has prepared for it," UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.

This will be the third time that Washington has left UNESCO, and the second time during the administration under Donald Trump. Since his second term in office started early this year, the Trump administration had announced its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations Human Rights Council.

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Washington has long had a contentious relationship with UNESCO, repeatedly withdrawing over political grievances. In 1984, the Ronald Reagan administration pulled the United States out of the agency, citing what it called the UN body's ideological tilt toward the former Soviet Union against the West, and the United States stayed away till 2003.

In November 2011, the Barack Obama administration cut off funding for the UN cultural agency, after its member countries defied a US warning and approved a Palestinian bid for full membership in the body.

French reaction

France, as the host country and a founding member of UNESCO, regrets the US decision, the spokesperson of the country's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

France supports UNESCO with regard to access to education for all, the protection of endangered heritage, the preservation of the oceans, the responsible development of artificial intelligence, and the fight against anti-Semitism and hate speech, the spokesperson said in a press release.

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Earlier Tuesday afternoon, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed on his X account France's "unwavering support" for UNESCO. He called UNESCO a "universal guardian of science, the ocean, education, culture, and world heritage."