The US has ordered its Jerusalem embassy to press the Palestinian leadership into dropping a bid for a senior position at the UN general assembly, anxious that the role could allow Palestinians to chair high-profile debates on the Middle East.
A 19 May state department cable seen by the Guardian instructed the US embassy in Jerusalem to issue a demarche (a formal protest) to the leaders of the Palestinian Authority. It put pressure on them to withdraw the bid for a role as vice-president of the general assembly by 22 May, warning that “consequences will follow” if they failed to comply.
