UN Approves Abbas Video Speech after US Visa Denial

UN Photo/Evan Schneider — Results of the vote on a resolution on Palestine’s participation during the 80th session of the General Assembly.

The UN General Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution allowing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address next week’s high-level debate by pre-recorded video after the United States refused to issue visas for Palestine’s delegation.

The resolution passed with 145 votes in favour, five against (Israel, Nauru, Palau, Paraguay, and the United States), and six abstentions (Albania, Fiji, Hungary, North Macedonia, Panama, and Papua New Guinea).

It sets out procedures for the delivery of pre-recorded statements, authorising President Abbas to submit his address via video in the General Assembly Hall, introduced by one of Palestine’s New York-based representatives.

The measure also allows for statements via live link or pre-recorded video at the high-level conference on the two-State solution and other meetings.

The arrangements apply only to the current 80th session.

In another action, the 193-member Assembly adopted without a vote a Saudi-proposed decision allowing Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman to deliver a statement by video at the high-level conference on 22 September 2025.

The US Department of State announced on 29 August that it was denying and revoking visas for members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority on national security grounds, claiming they had failed to comply with past commitments and were “undermining the prospects for peace.”