Israeli leader blasts UN resolution on Jerusalem

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a resolution adopted by the U.N. cultural agency denies the Jewish connection to holy sites in Jerusalem and is a “theatre of the absurd.”

The UNESCO resolution, sponsored by several Arab countries, marginalizes Jewish ties to the Western Wall, a remnant of the biblical temple compound, and to the plaza that Jews revere as the Temple Mount and Muslims revere as the Noble Sanctuary.

Netanyahu asks on his Facebook page: “Is it any wonder the U.N. has become a moral farce when UNESCO, the U.N. body tasked with preserving history, denies and distorts history?”

The Palestinian foreign ministry welcomed the resolution, which was adopted on Thursday in draft form. It’s to reach UNESCO’s executive plenary next week. UNESCO adopted a similar resolution in April.