WASHINGTON: A succession of top US officials have travelled to the West Bank in recent weeks to meet with Mahmoud Abbas in the hope he can overhaul his unpopular Palestinian Authority enough to run Gaza after the crisis.

An architect of the 1993 Oslo peace accords with Israel that raised hopes of Palestinian statehood, Abbas has seen his legitimacy steadily undermined by Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank, which he oversees. Many Palestinians now regard his administration as corrupt, undemocratic and out of touch.

President Joe Biden has made it clear that he wants to see a revitalised Palestinian Authority which Abbas has run since 2005 — take charge in Gaza once the crisis is over, unifying its administration with the West Bank.

Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, met with Abbas on Friday, becoming the latest senior US official to urge him to implement rapid change. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters after meeting the Palestinian leader in late November that they discussed the need for reforms to combat corruption, empower civil society and support a free press.

Mahmoud Abbas has indicated openness to induction of ‘new blood’ with technocratic skills

Three Palestinian and one senior regional official briefed on the conversations said that Washington’s proposals behind closed doors would also involve Abbas ceding some of his control over the authority.

Under the proposals that have been floated, Abbas could appoint a deputy, hand broader executive powers to his prime minister, and introduce new figures into the leadership of the organisation, the Palestinian and regional sources said.

The State Department said leadership choices were a question for the Palestinian people and did not elaborate on the steps needed to revitalise the authority.

In an interview at his office in Ramallah, Abbas said he was ready to revamp the Palestinian Authority with new leaders and to hold elections which have been suspended since Hamas won the last vote in 2006 and pushed the PA out of Gaza provided there was a binding international agreement that would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.

That has been something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right coalition have refused to countenance.

“The problem is not changing (Palestinian) politicians and forming a new government, the problem is the policies of the Israeli government,” Abbas said in the interview last week, when asked about the US proposals.

While Abbas may accept that his long rule is nearing its end, he and other Palestinian leaders say the US, Israel’s key strategic ally, must press Netanyahu’s government to allow the establishment of a Palestinian state encompassing Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

According to a person in Washington familiar with the matter, Abbas has privately expressed openness to some US proposals for reform of the PA, including bringing in “new blood” with technocratic skills and giving the prime minister’s office new executive powers.

While US officials insist they had not proposed any names to Abbas, regional sources and diplomats say some in Washington and Israel favour Hussein al-Sheikh a senior PLO official — as a possible deputy and future successor.

Washington has appealed to Jordan, Egypt and Gulf states to persuade Abbas to pursue institutional reforms with urgency to prepare for the “day after”.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2023