UNITED NATIONS — The United States on Friday blocked the appointment of a former Palestinian official for a senior United Nations post in a move intended to signal its support for Israel and its defense of the position that there is no Palestinian state.
The former Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, had been put forth as the next United Nations special representative to Libya.
The American ambassador, Nikki R. Haley, said in a statement on Friday that the Trump administration “was disappointed” that the new United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, had sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council announcing his intention to appoint Mr. Fayyad to the Libya post.
“For too long the U.N. has been unfairly biased in favor of the Palestinian Authority to the detriment of our allies in Israel,” Ms. Haley said. “The United States does not currently recognize a Palestinian state or support the signal this appointment would send within the United Nations.”
“Going forward,” she added, “the United States will act, not just talk, in support of our allies.”
Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, said: “This is the beginning of a new era at the U.N. The United States stands firmly and unapologetically beside Israel.”
Mr. Fayyad served as the Palestinian Authority’s prime minister from 2007 to 2013, and before that he was the finance minister.
