The United States has barred Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from attending next month’s United Nations of world leaders gathering in New York where several U.S. allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.
A State Department official said Abbas and about 80 other Palestinians would be affected by the decision to deny and revoke visas from members of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.
Abbas had been planning to travel to New York for the annual high-level U.N. General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in Manhattan. He was also set to attend a summit there - hosted by France and Saudi Arabia - where Britain, France, Australia and Canada have pledged to formally recognize a Palestinian state.
Abbas' office said it was astonished by the visa decision and argued that it violated the U.N. "headquarters agreement."
Under a 1947 U.N. "headquarters agreement," the U.S. is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the U.N. in New York. Washington, however, has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
The State Department justified its decision on Friday by reiterating longstanding U.S. and Israeli allegations that the PA and PLO had failed to repudiate extremism while pushing for "unilateral recognition" of a Palestinian state.
Palestinian officials reject such allegations and say that decades of U.S.-mediated talks have failed to end Israeli occupation and secure an independent state of Palestine.
"(It) is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace," the department said.
The State Department said that the Palestinian Authority's mission to the U.N., comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the U.N. would discuss the visa issue with the State Department, "in line with U.N. Headquarters agreement between the U.N. and the U.S."
The U.S. also refused to issue a visa to PLO leader Yasser Arafat in 1988. The U.N. General Assembly held a meeting that year in Geneva instead of New York so he could address it.
The State Department said it demands that the PA and PLO "consistently repudiate terrorism," including the deadly October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked Israel's war in Gaza.
In June, Abbas, the Palestinian president, wrote a letter to France's president in which he condemned the Hamas attack and called on hostages taken by the group to be released.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar welcomed the State Department's decision.
Israel and the U.S. are upset with several allies who have pledged to recognize a Palestinian state at the U.N. next month.
The recognition pledges by the Western powers reflect frustration with Israel's assault in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of people and set off a starvation crisis. It also reflects anger with Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, viewed as the heartland of a potential Palestinian state.
At least 147 of the 193 U.N. member states already recognize a Palestinian state. The Palestinians currently have observer status at the U.N., the same as the Holy See (Vatican).
The Palestinians have long sought a state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
