Palestinian UN ambassador withdraws vice presidency bid after US pressure

Palestinian UN ambassador withdraws vice presidency bid after US pressure Submitted by Bilge Kotan on Fri, 05/22/2026 - 05:44 A diplomatic cable revealed that the United States instructed its diplomats to threaten Palestinian officials with revoking the visas of the Palestinian UN delegation ahead of the vote Riyad Mansour, the State of Palestine representative to the United Nations, attends a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East and Palestine on 24 November 2025, at UN headquarters in New York City. (Spencer Platt / AFP) Off Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour is withdrawing his bid for vice president of the UN General Assembly , after the US threatened to revoke visas for the Palestinian delegation if he did not drop the bid, NPR reported. Citing a source familiar with the matter, the report said Lebanon's ambassador is taking Mansour's place after the Palestinian UN delegation relayed through an Arab country that he will refrain from running for a vice presidential position for the next two years.  The spokesperson of the President of the UN General Assembly, La Neice Collins, confirmed the Palestinian delegation's withdrawal.  An internal US State Department cable on Tuesday had instructed its diplomats in Jerusalem to pressure Palestinian officials to drop the bid, claiming that his candidacy undermines US President Donald Trump's plans for  Gaza . "We will hold the PA responsible if the Palestinian delegation does not withdraw its VPGA candidacy," the cable said. It also reminded that the US refused visas to PA President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other senior Palestinian officials for the UN General Assem...

Original source: Middle East Eye