Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian representative to the United Nations, submitted his candidacy for the President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Saturday.
Palestine is currently considered a non-member state of the UN and a Permanent Observer with “a standing invitation to participate as Observers in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly,” rather than a member state, according to the UN.
Mansour’s move drew criticism and raised questions regarding the legality of Palestinian participation in the UN.
The UNGA passed a resolution expanding Palestinian rights to participate in sessions, but upheld an explicit standard that the observer state would not have the right to vote on resolutions or nominate candidates for official positions, Maariv reported.
'Back door' attempt at upgrading status
Israeli UN representative Danny Danon called Mansour’s candidacy “a blatant attempt to upgrade the status of the Palestinian delegation at the United Nations through the back door” in a post on X/Twitter on Saturday.
Danon stated that Mansour’s move threatens “to turn the General Assembly into a platform for anti-Israel propaganda, and to undermine the UN’s objectives,” in addition to contributing to “the systematic erosion of the institution’s credibility.”
“This is what politicization looks like - draining the General Assembly of substance,” Danon said, slamming Mansour for engaging in “self-promotion” while he “pretends to represent the Palestinians.”