In a stark escalation of diplomatic pressure on the Palestinian Authority, the United States has issued an ultimatum: revoke Riyad Mansour’s candidacy for vice-president of the UN General Assembly, or face the revocation of visas for the entire Palestinian delegation to the United Nations, National Public Radio reported Thursday.
The threat is laid out in a confidential US State Department cable obtained by NPR, dated May 19, which instructed American diplomatic personnel based in Jerusalem to formally press Palestinian leadership to pull Mansour’s name from the race ahead of the June 2 election. Twenty-one candidates are vying for the vice-presidential posts in this vote.
The cable frames Mansour as a problematic candidate, pointing to his long record of public accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. It argues that his elevation to the vice-presidential role would inflame regional tensions and directly undermine the Gaza peace plans advanced by former US President Donald Trump.
“A bully pulpit for Mansour would not improve the lives of Palestinians and would significantly damage U.S. relations with the PA [Palestinian Authority]. Congress will take it extremely seriously,” the cable reads. It also reminds Palestinian officials of a 2025 decision by the State Department to waive existing visa sanctions and entry restrictions for Palestinian officials assigned to the Palestine Liberation Organization’s UN Observer Mission in New York, adding that “it would be unfortunate to have to revisit any available options.”
This is not the first time US lobbying has derailed Mansour’s bid for a top UN leadership role. The cable confirms that Mansour was forced to withdraw his candidacy for UN General Assembly president back in February after intensive US pressure. The Trump administration has a long history of using visa restrictions to push back against Palestinian diplomatic efforts at the UN: last year, Washington refused to grant entry visas to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and more than 80 other senior Palestinian officials who planned to attend the annual UN General Assembly gathering in New York.
That 2024 visa ban came on the heels of announcements from multiple Western nations that they planned to recognize Palestinian statehood during the high-level assembly meeting. US officials justified the move at the time by citing the Palestinian Authority’s support for ongoing war crimes and genocide investigations against Israel and its senior leaders at the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court. The Abbas’ office pushed back against the ban, arguing it violated the UN Headquarters Agreement, which legally requires the US, as the host nation of the UN’s New York headquarters, to grant unimpeded entry visas for official UN business.
The new ultimatum has drawn immediate criticism from foreign policy experts and former US diplomatic officials. Hady Amr, who served as a senior State Department official covering Palestinian affairs during both the Obama and Biden administrations, called the threat of visa revocation counterproductive to long-term diplomatic efforts.
“It’s counterproductive because you need diplomats to work out problems between countries and by expelling diplomats, you’re undermining not only their ability to solve problems, but the abilities of the United States as well,” Amr said.