World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder on Tuesday condemned the UNESCO Executive Board’s vote in favor of a resolution rejecting Israeli sovereignty and jurisdiction over Jerusalem.

Lauder said: “This cynical move must be recognized for what it is: a distorted, dangerous and illegitimate revision of history, which serves only as bait for adversaries of Israel seeking to strip the Jewish people’s right to self-determination and deny its historic and religious link to Jerusalem. I urge the international community to condemn this decision in the harshest manner possible, and do everything in its power to rectify this error.”

The resolution which trefers to Israel as an ‘’occupying power’’, calls on Israel to rescind any “legislative and administrative measures and actions” it has taken to “alter the character and status” of Jerusalem. It rejects the idea of a “basic law” in Jerusalem, based on a 1980 Knesset law, which implies that the city is one unified whole and governed solely by Israel. It was approved by a vote of 22-10 (including the US, Ukraine and 5 EU countries) with 23 abstentions and 3 absent.

“The United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization has once again undermined its own legitimacy by approving a ludicrous decision that denies the State of Israel’s sovereignty over its legal capital in Jerusalem,” Lauder said.

He added: “On behalf of the more than 100 Jewish communities worldwide represented by the World Jewish Congress, I thank the 10 states that opposed this decision for speaking up for truth and justice. Their refusal to agree to the outrageous charges leveled by the UNESCO Executive Board is a small but significant moral achievement for Israel and all purveyors of democracy within the international community.”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called the UNESCO resolution ‘’defamatory and problematic in the extreme.’’

‘’Such unbalanced resolutions only sow distrust in the reliability and fairness of international institutions,’’ said ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt.

‘’We recognize and salute the moral leadership of those countries that voted no: The United States, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Paraguay, Netherlands, Togo, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. We further express our appreciation to UNESCO Secretary General Irina Bokova for her rejection of efforts within UNESCO to erase or diminish the Jewish connection to Jerusalem,’’ he said.

ADL noted that I noted that in contrast to previous resolutions, Jerusalem’s significance to the three monotheistic religions is affirmed.