UN Votes to Let Mahmoud Abbas Address General Assembly by Video After US Denies Visa for Second Year
By Sadaf Sundas Riaz — SCN News
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly authorized Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address next week’s gathering of world leaders by video after the United States again denied him a visa to travel to New York, extending a dispute over Palestinian access to the UN into a second consecutive year. The resolution passed by 152 votes to three, with four abstentions, and goes further than simply allowing Abbas to deliver his General Debate speech remotely.
Under the measure adopted Thursday, Abbas can submit a prerecorded address for the UN General Assembly’s high-level debate. It also permits Abbas and other senior Palestinian officials to participate remotely in UN meetings and conferences over the coming year if they are prevented from entering the United States, effectively creating a broader mechanism to maintain high-level Palestinian participation despite Washington’s visa restrictions.
The United States, Israel and Paraguay voted against the resolution, while four countries abstained. The vote demonstrates broad General Assembly support for allowing the Palestinian leadership to participate in UN proceedings even though the host country has refused Abbas entry. It does not, however, overturn the American visa decision or compel Washington to admit him.
Washington announced this week that it was extending visa sanctions against officials associated with the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority. A Palestinian official subsequently confirmed that Abbas was among those denied permission to enter the United States for the 81st session of the General Assembly. It is the second consecutive year that the Palestinian president has been prevented from attending the annual gathering in person.
The Trump administration says the restrictions are a response to Palestinian actions that it argues undermine prospects for peace. The State Department cited what it described as failures by the Palestinian Authority to meet previous commitments, its pursuit of cases involving Israel at international courts and its financial payments connected to Palestinian prisoners and their families. The Palestinian leadership disputes Washington’s characterization and has criticized the visa restrictions as unjustified.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Tammy Bruce defended Washington’s position before the General Assembly vote, arguing that the Palestinian Authority needed to change its policies if it wanted to be treated as a credible partner. The U.S. has also objected to Palestinian efforts to pursue Israel through international legal institutions, describing those initiatives as attempts to “internationalize” the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The dispute has reopened questions surrounding the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement, which governs the United States’ obligations as host of the world body. The agreement generally requires Washington to facilitate access to the UN headquarters district for representatives attending official business. The United States maintains that it retains authority to deny visas on grounds including security, extremism and foreign-policy considerations.
That disagreement is not new, but Abbas’s case has become particularly visible because it involves the president of the Palestinian Authority and comes during the UN’s highest-profile diplomatic week. Palestinian diplomats already accredited to the UN can continue representing Palestine in New York, meaning Washington’s decision does not eliminate Palestinian participation in the General Assembly. It does, however, prevent Abbas and other affected senior officials from conducting the extensive in-person diplomacy that normally takes place around the annual gathering.
The 2026 decision closely follows what happened a year earlier. In September 2025, after Washington denied Abbas entry, the General Assembly voted to permit him to deliver a prerecorded statement. That resolution passed 145-5 with six abstentions. Abbas subsequently appeared on a large screen inside the General Assembly Hall rather than at the podium.
This year’s measure received an even larger affirmative vote and, significantly, provides for remote participation beyond a single General Assembly address. The resolution covers other UN meetings and conferences during the next year when senior Palestinian officials are unable to travel because of U.S. restrictions.
The timing also gives Abbas’s virtual appearance greater diplomatic significance. The 81st UN General Assembly high-level debate begins Tuesday, bringing presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers to New York amid the continuing Gaza conflict and broader instability across the Middle East. Palestinian statehood and the prospects for a two-state settlement are expected to feature prominently in discussions surrounding the session.
Abbas is expected to address the General Assembly on Thursday, the same day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to speak. The two appearances will take place under markedly different circumstances: Netanyahu is scheduled to address delegates in person, while Abbas will appear remotely because Washington has denied him entry.
The U.S. decision has also attracted criticism outside the Palestinian leadership. The European Union said Saturday that it regretted Washington’s refusal to issue visas to the Palestinian delegation and urged the United States to reconsider, adding another diplomatic dimension to a dispute that was initially between Washington, Ramallah and the United Nations.
The visa controversy is particularly notable because Washington has approved visas for senior Iranian officials, including Iran’s president and foreign minister, to attend the same UN gathering despite the continuing confrontation between the United States and Iran. The circumstances and legal considerations are different, but the contrasting decisions are likely to attract attention during a General Assembly dominated by Middle East diplomacy.
For the Palestinians, the General Assembly resolution ensures that Washington’s visa decision will not silence Abbas at the UN’s most important annual gathering. It cannot provide what the visa denial removes: the ability to hold the same range of face-to-face meetings with other leaders and diplomats in New York.
The dispute therefore extends beyond the mechanics of a video speech. For the second year running, the General Assembly has intervened to preserve the Palestinian president’s participation after the United States, exercising its authority as host country, denied him entry. The immediate outcome is clear — Abbas will still address the UN — but from a screen rather than the General Assembly podium.