Washington is reportedly pressuring Riyad Mansour to drop his General Assembly bid by warning of possible visa revocations
The US has urged the Palestinian envoy to the UN to withdraw his candidacy for a senior General Assembly post and threatened to revoke his delegation’s visas if he refuses, according to media reports citing an internal State Department cable.
The dispute centers on Palestinian efforts to expand their diplomatic standing at the UN, including a push for full membership and a vice-presidential seat in the General Assembly, despite opposition from US and Israel.
The internal cable issued this week reportedly instructed US diplomats at the American embassy in Jerusalem to tell Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour that his General Assembly bid “fuels tensions,” risks undermining US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, and would face consequences if it moved forward.
Mansour had already dropped a bid to become president of the General Assembly earlier this year following US lobbying, according to the reports. The Assembly is due to elect its next president and 16 vice‑presidents on June 2.
US diplomats were also reportedly instructed to remind Palestinian officials that they would make no progress on recovering tax and customs revenues withheld by Israel if they did not “engage in good faith.” Those funds make up much of the Palestinian Authority’s budget and have been largely frozen since the Gaza war began following the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023.
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