US threatens to revoke the Palestinian UN ambassador's visa

Middle East US threatens to revoke the Palestinian UN ambassador's visa May 20, 20262:58 PM ET Daniel Estrin Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour pats his heart during the Kuwait Crown Prince's address at the High-Level Security Council meeting on Palestinians and Israel during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 23, 2025 Angelina Katsanis/AP hide caption toggle caption Angelina Katsanis/AP TEL AVIV — The U.S. is threatening to revoke the visas of the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations unless the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. withdraws his run for vice president of the General Assembly. A U.S. State Department cable issued Tuesday and obtained by NPR instructs U.S. diplomats in Jerusalem to pressure Palestinian officials this week to withdraw their bid for one of the 21 vice president roles at the U.N., or face possible consequences including visa revocation. The May 19 U.S. cable, marked sensitive but unclassified, says Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour "has a history of accusing Israel of genocide," and that his bid "fuels tension" and undermines President Trump's peace plan for Gaza. Sponsor Message "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 says. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' office declined comment. "It would be unfortunate," the U.S. cable says in a threat to revoke visas Ahead of last year's U.N. General Assembly in New York, the Trump Administration made the rare move of denying U.S. visas to top Palestinian officials including President Abbas. But the U.S. did not revoke visas for the Palestinian delegation to the U.N. "In September 2025, the Department made the decision to waive visa sanctions and other inadmissibilities for Palestinian officials assigned to the PLO's UN Observer Mission in New York. It would b...