Riyad Mansour, the UN Minister and Permanent Observer for Palestine, formally withdrew his bid to become president of the 81st Session of the UN on Thursday.
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 biography provided by the UN alongside Mansour's initial submission, Mansour has represented the Palestinian Authority at the UN for 20 years and served as a non-resident ambassador to two Caribbean states. He has held the rank of minister since 2019.
Israeli Ambassador to UN denounces Mansour's candidacy
IsraelI Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon described Mansour's bid for presidency as "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."
The Palestinian delegation should instead focus on reforming the Palestinian Authority and ending terrorism, he added.
Mansour made no mention of the reason for his withdrawal in either his formal letter to the UN or on social media.
Goldie Katz contributed to this report.