US puts pressure on Palestinian leaders to withdraw bid for UN vice-presidency role

The US has ordered its Jerusalem embassy to pressure the Palestinian leadership into dropping a bid for a UN general assembly vice-presidency, anxious that the role could allow Palestinians to chair high-profile debates on the Middle East. A 19 May state department cable seen by the Guardian instructed the US embassy in Jerusalem to issue a démarche (a formal protest) to the leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA) pressuring them to withdraw the bid by 22 May, warning that “consequences will follow” if they failed to comply. The Trump administration, which has resisted all moves towards Palestinian statehood, is seeking to pressure the Palestinian observer mission at the UN to withdraw its bid for one of 16 vice-presidential positions on the general assembly, which are due to be elected on 2 June alongside the president of the assembly’s next year-long session. The US mission has “repeatedly appealed” to the Palestinians to stand down, according to the cable. “In a worst case scenario, the next PGA [president of the general assembly] might assist the Palestinians in presiding over high-profile sessions related to the Middle East or during UNGA81 high-level week,” the cable read, referring to a week of summits and leaders’ speeches planned for September in New York. The Palestinians are currently running as one of four delegations on a Asia-Pacific group slate. …