(Communicated by the Foreign Ministry Spokesman)

The UNESCO General Conference today (23 October 2007) adopted by unanimous vote a historic resolution calling to promote awareness of Holocaust remembrance through education and to combat all forms of Holocaust denial.

The resolution was drafted by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and submitted by a group of states that included Israel, the United States, Russia, Australia and Canada, and was supported by 72 additional states.

The resolution calls on the Director-General of UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - "to consult with the United Nations Secretary-General regarding his outreach program, with a view to exploring what role UNESCO could play in promoting awareness of Holocaust remembrance through education and in combating all forms of Holocaust denial."

The UNESCO resolution was adopted in the wake of resolutions on Holocaust remembrance and Holocaust denial adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2005 and 2006 respectively. The current resolution will enable UNESCO, alongside the program for Holocaust awareness being developed by the UN Secretariat in New York, to prepare and disseminate an educational program on Holocaust remembrance and to encourage the inclusion of the Holocaust in educational curricula throughout the world, as well as in research and conferences.

This resolution is an important addition to the ongoing efforts of the Israel Foreign Ministry to instill the memory of the Holocaust, which has included the adoption of resolutions by the UN General Assembly, the display of the Yad Vashem exhibit at UN headquarters in New York and Geneva, and the special session of the UN General Assembly in January 2005 marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps.

Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni welcomed the adoption of the resolution by the UNESCO General Conference and thanked the Director-General of UNESCO for his contribution to the adoption of the resolution: "The UNESCO resolution is of the highest political and moral importance, sharpening the moral commitment of the nations of the world to instill Holocaust remembrance and to combat its denial. This is our historic and moral obligation to the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, and will serve as a clear warning to every society in order to fulfill the promise of 'Never again.'"