World News

Abbas to address UN remotely after US visa ban

The resolution allows Abbas to submit a pre-recorded statement for broadcast in the General Assembly Hall, with one of “Palestine’s” New York-based representatives introducing his remarks.

By Jewish Breaking News

Mahmoud Abbas will address the UN General Assembly remotely this week after the Trump administration denied visas to the Palestinian Authority leader and other officials, citing national security concerns.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio pulled Abbas’s visa last month, along with those of roughly 80 other officials, for failing to adequately condemn Hamas’s October 7 massacre and seeking to join South Africa’s “genocide” case against Israel at the ICC.

“Before the PLO and PA can be considered partners for peace, they must consistently repudiate terrorism—including the October 7 massacre—and end incitement to terrorism in education,” the State Department said when announcing the ban.

But the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Friday 145-5 to accommodate Abbas and his cronies.

The resolution allows Abbas to submit a pre-recorded statement for broadcast in the General Assembly Hall, with one of “Palestine’s” New York-based representatives introducing his remarks.

“U.S. opposition to this resolution should come as no surprise,” U.S. diplomat Jonathan Shrier said before the vote.

“The Trump Administration has been clear: we must hold the PLO and Palestinian Authority accountable for not complying with their commitments under the Oslo Accords, some of them very basic, and for undermining the prospects for peace.”

Abbas will deliver his video address on Thursday as a host of Western nations led by France and Saudi Arabia prepare to formally recognize it as early as tomorrow.

Britain, Canada, Australia, and Portugal have already recognized Palestinian statehood.

Responding to the vote, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon dismissed the UN capitulation as “Palestinian theater.”

“Here at the UN, they are preparing for Palestinian theater during the General Assembly. They approved yet another proposal allowing Abbas to speak remotely and the Palestinian ambassador to speak before him,” he said.

“We are certain it will be a ‘Palestinian festival’ next week. We will continue our activities on the ground — striking Hamas and bringing all the hostages home.”

Separately, the UN Assembly also saw Danon blast a failed Gaza ceasefire resolution as a “betrayal of the hostages,” warning it would only embolden Hamas and fuel further bloodshed.

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Yossi Licht
Tags: Mahmoud Abbas United Nations US visa

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