Ricketts Slams United Nations for Anti-Israel Bias

January 26, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), a member of the SenateCommittee on Foreign Relations, slammed the United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for their anti-Israel bias. The exchange took place after a report found the U.N. General Assembly last year passed 14 resolutions rebuking Israel and only 7 resolutions rebuking all other countries combined.

“Last year, the U.N. passed twice as many anti-Israel resolutions as all other countries combined. All other countries combined,” said Senator Ricketts. “Twice as many against Israel. And it’s no secret that UNESCO has a long history of anti-Israel bias as well, starting when they granted membership to Palestine. And we’ve covered already that the Biden administration is rejoining UNESCO to counter the malign influence of the PRC. However, the anti-Israel bias still remains.”

“Since October 7th, UNESCO has routinely criticized Israel’s war against Hamas, often with little or no context to the October 7 attacks in which Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took 240 hostages,” continued Ricketts. “Specifically, UNESCO has routinely criticized Israeli targeting of educational establishments in Gaza, despite Hamas’ clear use of many civilian sites for military purposes. These public admissions leave out critical context and undermine support for our ally, Israel.”

Ricketts made the comments in a hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations while questioning Courtney Diesel O’Donnell, President Biden’s nominee to be the Permanent Representative to UNESCO.