The United States announced on Thursday that it was withdrawing from UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural and educational agency, citing its frustration at how the Paris-based organization is run and its "continuing anti-Israel bias" as the reasons. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel plans to follow suit.

The US will remain a full member of UNESCO until Dec 31 next year, after which it will seek to establish a permanent observer mission to the organization.

While the Donald Trump administration had been preparing for a likely withdrawal for months, the timing of the US State Department's statement is due to the resourceful Israeli lobbyists in the US. Israel has been enraged by recent UNESCO resolutions that name ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites.