The Palestinian Authority (PA) this week announced the formation of a new cabinet, but it was met with skepticism by a number of analysts because some of the key figures are close to President Mahmoud Abbas, who has been in power for more than 20 years and is not enjoys broad public support among Palestinians. In addition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that he does not foresee the PAF playing a role in the Gaza Strip after the war and has accused it of promoting hatred of Israel.
On the day the names of the new PAV cabinet were announced, Israel's Supreme Court ordered a halt to state subsidies for many ultra-Orthodox men who do not serve in the military. This decision could have profound consequences for the government and the tens of thousands of religious citizens of Israel refusing to perform mandatory military service, including leading to new elections, commented the Associated Press.
An attempt to stabilize the political situation in the West Bank
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohamed Staye and his government submitted their resignations to President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday. According to many observers, this is the first step towards the formation of a new technocratic Palestinian government to govern the Palestinian territories and oversee the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after the end of the war.
"The decision to resign was taken against the backdrop of the unprecedented escalation of events in the West Bank and Jerusalem and the war, genocide and famine in the Gaza Strip," Staye said in a statement quoted by " Time". "The next stage and the challenges associated with it require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the new reality in Gaza and the need for a consensus among Palestinians based on Palestinian unity and the extension of unified authority over the lands of Palestine," Staye also wrote. .
Palestinian ambassador to Britain Hussam Zomlot said the next day that the formation of the new government was an attempt at a "fresh start in the interests of the unity of the Palestinian people", adding that the new cabinet would not include any political factions. "Now is not the time for political factions, but for the Palestinian people," Zomlot stressed.
PAV governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. After the Palestinian Islamist group "Hamas" took power in Gaza in 2007, it expelled PAF forces from the coastal enclave, AP recalls. The US and other countries favor the PA to take over the West Bank and Gaza as part of a renewed push for a two-state solution.
Washington welcomed the news of the formation of the new PAV cabinet. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US looked forward to working with the new Palestinian ministers to deliver "credible reforms". "Reviving the PAF is essential to achieving results for the Palestinian people in both the West Bank and Gaza and to building the conditions for stability in the wider region," Miller said.
However, the PA has little public support and legitimacy among Palestinians, in part due to the fact that it has not held an election in 18 years. Its policy of cooperation with Israel on security issues is extremely unpopular and leads many Palestinians to view the PAF as a subcontractor of the occupation forces, AP notes.
A survey by the Palestinian Center for Political and Sociological Studies published in December showed that more than 90% of Palestinians in the West Bank want Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, to step down, according to the Washington Post. .
Grounds for skepticism
On Thursday, new PAF Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa unveiled his cabinet, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa Abbas, who approved the ministers the same day.
Khaled Elgindi, director of the Program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs at the Middle East Institute – a US-based think tank said, quoted by the Washington Post, that few of the new ministers are known to the general public. According to Elgindi, the new cabinet is not legitimate because it did not come to power through elections and because PAV continues to cooperate with Israel in the field of security.
The new names have sparked skepticism and fears that Mustafa will not be able to respond to international calls for reform because of his closeness to Abbas, commented in the "New York Times". Mustafa is a US-educated economist who has worked for the World Bank and the Palestine Investment Fund. He will be not only Prime Minister, but also Minister of Foreign Affairs. For many years, Mustafa has been a senior adviser to Abbas and does not pose a serious threat to his power, adds the American publication
Ziad Hab al-Rieh, who previously served as the head of PAW's domestic intelligence agency, remains as interior minister. Ashraf al-Awar became the minister for Jerusalem affairs. He registered as a candidate of "Fatah" in the 2021 election, but then the vote was postponed indefinitely.
Financial expert Omar al-Bitar became finance minister, and Muhammad al-Amour, who was chairman of the Palestinian Association of Businessmen, was appointed economy minister. The new cabinet, which includes eight ministers from Gaza, will also include a minister of state for "aid issues".
"It appears by all accounts that this government is completely under the control of Abu Mazen," told the "New York Times" Ghait al-Omari, a former adviser to Abbas. "There are no signals that a change in policy is imminent," he added.
Instability in Netanyahu's cabinet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the idea of the PAF playing any role in the Gaza Strip after the end of the war, although the US insists that there is no other institution that could take on this task, Politico reports. Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that PAV is not significantly different from "Hamas" and that it incites hatred of Israelis. But the political future of Netanyahu himself is unclear, given the public dissatisfaction with the failure of the country's security, which allowed fighters from the Palestinian Islamist group to attack southern Israel on October 7 this year, the publication commented.
Netanyahu's coalition government is facing a crisis for another reason. On Thursday – the day Mustafa announced the names of the new PAV cabinet, Israel's Supreme Court ordered the suspension of state subsidies for ultra-Orthodox Jews who study in religious seminaries, known as yeshiva, instead of military service. The magistrates' decision states that the existing system privileges ultra-Orthodox Israelis at the expense of the country's secular Jewish community. The Supreme Court gave Netanyahu until Monday to present a plan to eliminate this problem.
Members of the ruling coalition are divided over whether the state should continue to allow young ultra-Orthodox men to study at religious seminaries instead of serving in the army, as most other Jews in Israel do. If the government revokes the exception, it risks losing the support of ultra-Orthodox MPs. If it remains in force, however, there is a possibility that the secular members of the parliament will withdraw. In both cases, the coalition may fall apart, the New York Times explains.
The final decision, which is expected tomorrow, could have serious consequences for the Netanyahu government and for the tens of thousands of religious men who are currently exempt from mandatory military service, commented "Politico". It is the most serious threat to Netanyahu's government since he assembled a government of national unity in the days after the October 7 attack. The end of the coalition will most likely lead to new elections, and polls indicate that Netanyahu will not win them, the "New York Times" points out.