Israel freezes cooperation with UNESCO for 'denying Jewish holy sites'

Israel has frozen co-operation with the UN's cultural agency, UNESCO, accusing it of denying Judaism's connections to the religion's holiest sites. Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett said a Unesco draft decision concerning Jerusalem denies history and encourages terror. He said UNSECO is ignoring thousands of years of Jewish ties to Jerusalem and aiding Islamist terror.

It comes after the body approved a text which repeatedly used only the Islamic name for a hilltop complex which is also the holiest site in Judaism. The site is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and Haram al-Sharif to Muslims.