"UNESCO's Executive Board on Wednesday solely condemned Israeli 'aggression' on the Temple Mount, but backed away from reclassifying the Western Wall as a Muslim holy site.
The Foreign Ministry said the resolution 'aims to transform the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a religious confrontation and its adoption is a disgrace.'
The 58-member body in Paris voted 26 in favor, six against, with 15 abstentions.
The US, Germany, United Kingdom, Estonia, Netherlands and Czech Republic voted against the resolution.
A number of other European countries, such as Austria, Spain, France, Italy and Macedonia were among those that abstained, along with Ethiopia, Angola and Albania.
An initial draft text of the resolution submitted on behalf of the Palestinian Authority had said UNESCO 'affirms that the Buraq Plaza is an integral part of al-Aksa Mosque/ al-Haram al-Sharif.'
Under pressure from the Europeans, the US, Russia and UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova, however, that line on the Western Wall was pulled at the last moment by the resolution's authors – Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
But the resolution retained a line which affirmed, for the first time, that the Mugrabi Gate, whose ramp is built over the women's section of the Western Wall, 'is an integral part of al-Aksa mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif.'...
It solely accused Israel of aggressive actions in the Aksa Mosque compound and the Dome of the Rock, charging Jerusalem with igniting tensions on the ground..."