After being granted full membership at the United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO, the Palestinian Authority is seeking to become a member of the World Health Organization and of 15 smaller UN agencies. The forum of eight senior Israeli government ministers will convene later on Tuesday to discuss Israel’s response to the matter.

A source at the foreign ministry said that the Palestinian Health Minister, Fathi Abu Moghli, was sent last week by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to meet with the chief of the WHO office in the West Bank, and updated him on the Palestinians’ intention to apply for full membership in the organization.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim Khraishi, the top Palestinian envoy at the UN in Geneva, told the Associated Press on Tuesday about the Palestinian bid to become members of additional organizations.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“Now we are studying when we are going to move for full membership on the other UN agencies,” Khraishi said. “It’s our target for (us to join) the international organizations and the UN agencies.”

A foreign ministry source said that some of the bodies the Palestinians seek to join are The UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, The International Labor Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

UNESCO is the first UN agency that the Palestinians sought to join as a full member since Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas applied for full membership in the United Nations in September.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount