The United States and Israel had their voting rights suspended by UNESCO, as the two countries stopped paying dues to the U.N. cultural agency two years ago over Palestine being grant full membership.
According to Reuters, the blame for the U.S. not paying its dues was because it cannot legally fund U.N. agencies that accept Palestine as its own state. Unsurprisingly, Israel also pulled their funding over recognition by UNESCO of Palestine.
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization oversees designating World Heritage sites and backing global education and the freedom of the press.
A UNESCO source told the news site that the two countries had until Friday to officially account for why they have stopped funding, but neither made the deadline.
The U.S. sees UNESCO as a "critical partner in creating a better future," said David Killion, the U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO. "We intend to continue our engagement with UNESCO in every possible way."
The U.S. funded UNESCO with a yearly $80 million, but without that money, UNESCO has scaled back U.S.-led initiatives, like Holocaust education, due to the budget reduction, BBC News reports.
The U.S. contributes about a fifth of the yearly budget for UNESCO.