Palestinians' Musical Chairs: Replacing One Mohammed with Another Mohammed
by Khaled Abu Toameh • March 1, 2024 at 5:00 am
The assumption that a new Palestinian government headed by Mustafa (or any other figure selected by Abbas) would be different than the one headed by Shtayyeh is deadly mistaken. The cabinet shake-up is an insignificant cosmetic change.
If the Shtayyeh government was already working on a plan to revamp the Palestinian Authority (as the US administration is demanding), why is he being asked to be replaced with another Abbas loyalist? Is the new government headed by Mustafa going to come up with a different plan for reforming the PA? This just shows that Abbas's real objective is to play the Americans for fools by creating the impression that the new prime minister will be different than his predecessor.
Abbas is well aware that it is safer for him to live under Israeli security control than under the rule of Hamas, whose members killed dozens of his supporters during the 2007 Hamas coup against the Palestinian Authority.
Besides, Abbas knows that assuming control of the Gaza Strip in the post-war era would mean taking upon himself the almost impossible task of rebuilding the Gaza Strip and preventing Hamas and other terror groups from reasserting their power.
So, to appease the US administration, Abbas is once again playing the musical chairs game of the prime ministers. Abbas wants the Americans to believe that he is serious about revitalizing the Palestinian Authority and rebuilding the Gaza Strip. Abbas is hoping that his latest musical chair ploy will incentivize the international community to continue pouring millions of dollars into the coffers of the PA leadership.
On February 26, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh announced his resignation, paving the way for the formation of a new Palestinian government. The resignation came in response to pressure from the US administration on the Palestinian leadership to "revitalize" the Palestinian Authority (PA) so that it could assume control over the Gaza Strip after Hamas is removed from power.
Shtayyeh, who was appointed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas in 2019, is a veteran member of the ruling Fatah faction. The government he headed consisted of ministers affiliated with a number of political factions, as well as others known as independent technocrats.
Abbas is reportedly considering replacing the outgoing prime minister with Mohammed Mustafa, a senior PLO official who previously served as PA deputy prime minister and minister of economy. Mustafa, in addition, also served for many years as economic advisor to the PA president.
