The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations withdrew on Wednesday his candidacy for president of the UN General Assembly following what Israeli officials described as a joint diplomatic effort by Israel and the United States.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the UN, had sought the largely ceremonial but high-profile post. His withdrawal leaves two candidates in the race: Cyprus’ UN ambassador, Andreas Kakouris, and Bangladesh’s nominee, Mohammad Touhid Hossain.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon welcomed the move in an X post, calling Mansour’s candidacy “yet another attempt to turn the UN General Assembly into a political circus against Israel and to bolster the status of the Palestinian delegation through the back door. Instead, the Palestinian delegation should start focusing on stopping incitement of terrorism and on actually reforming the Palestinian Authority.”
“Instead of promoting the goals of the United Nations and preserving the unifying character of the General Assembly, there was a cynical attempt to turn it into a platform for anti-Israel propaganda,” Danon said in a statement.
He added that while claiming to represent the Palestinian people, Mansour was engaged in “self-promotion and the systematic erosion of the credibility of the international institution.”
Mansour has not publicly detailed the reasons for his withdrawal.
Last week, he addressed a Security Council session on Israel, accusing it of having “chosen annexation over peace” and urging the international community to “stop it now.” In his remarks, he cited comments by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and questioned how Israel could be “doubling down” on steps toward annexation despite broad international opposition and while the U.S. administration is attempting to stabilize what he described as a “fragile” ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Mansour also accused Israel of deliberately undermining the ceasefire, including through the killing of Palestinians and restricting humanitarian aid. He warned that Palestinians are being pushed into ever-shrinking areas even as their population grows, and said Israeli leaders speak of control “from the river to the sea” despite the presence of 7.5 million Palestinians in the territory.
He argued that the only effective response would be a clear international determination — “in deeds, not words” — that Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, constitute the territory of a Palestinian state. Without such action, he said, the two-state solution risks becoming what he called “the illusion of two states.”
The presidency of the General Assembly rotates annually among regional groups and oversees the body’s sessions but does not carry executive authority.