Daily Alert

The PA Tries to Fool the World

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s “Three Card Monty” Game with the West
Share this
Three Card Monty
Card cheating “3-card monte” scam. (ZioDave/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED)

Table of Contents

In the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, massacre, the Palestinian Authority and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, publicly declared their commitment to reassert control over the Gaza Strip and bolster the standing of the PA.

Their determination was dampened by Israel’s reservations but encouraged by the United States. U.S. President Joe Biden declared that “Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority….”

Since the word “revitalized” is ambiguous and not often used to convey critical and fundamental changes a failed governance structure needs to undergo, Abbas seized the opportunity to employ the infamous “Three card monty game” to fool the world.

To achieve his goal, Abbas and the PA are implementing several cosmetic changes to claim that the PA has been “revitalized.” While the PA propaganda machine is working to justify the move, the truth is that the changes are predominantly irrelevant.

Abbas does not want change. He has been the PA’s autocratic, corrupt, and widely criticized ruler for the past 19 years. He, his family, and his cronies have amassed huge personal fortunes that, in Abbas’ case, have reportedly reached $100 million.1 His sons have accumulated fortunes in excess of $300 million, controlling monopolies on the import of cigarettes and in the fields of civil engineering, electronics, real estate, and cellular communications.2

The dictator Mahmoud Abbas
The dictator Mahmoud Abbas (Arab social media)

Abbas and the PA constitute a leadership catastrophe for the Palestinian public. The failed PA that Abbas inherited from the previous PA leader, Yasser Arafat, steadily but surely managed to sink to even deeper lows. Every attempt to further the peace process, even entailing Israeli withdrawal, was met with Abbas’s refusal.

Internally, PA corruption is rife. The PA never established an independent judiciary or other vehicles of legitimate governance. PA security organizations popped up and flourished like mushrooms after the rain. At one stage, the PA security mechanisms even boasted more generals than the U.S. Army.3 Abbas regularly blames PA failures on Israel, the United States, or other Western powers.

While Abbas and the PA leadership deflected responsibility to everyone and anyone else, the Palestinian people were not hoodwinked. Already back in 2006, when given the chance to vote in elections for the PA parliament and choose between Abbas’s Fatah party and the internationally designated terrorist organization, Hamas, the Palestinian people chose Hamas.

After the international community rejected the Hamas government, Abbas deposed Hamas and installed a so-called “technocrat” government. The fact that Hamas remains a genocidal terrorist organization did not appear to bother Abbas. He feared the potential loss of control, contracts, and commensurate spoils. The convergence of interests worked well for Abbas. He sidelined Hamas and blamed Israel and the United States for forcing his hand.

Palestinian public opinion polls today show unprecedented public opposition to Abbas and his Fatah party, while Hamas has consistently grown stronger.4

In their relations with Israel, Abbas and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) – also headed by Abbas – used the PA as an effective vehicle to promote the “Plan of Stages” to destroy Israel.5 Adopted by the PLO in 1974, the “Plan of Stages” set out the principles according to which the PLO has since operated. The plan includes the use of terror to achieve its goals and the strategic decision to take any territorial foothold it can gain as a springboard to continue the path to the destruction of Israel.

The PA education system was radicalized and used to educate generation after generation of Palestinians to participate in terror and to teach the subversion of Israel. Terrorist glorification became commonplace. Abbas entrenched the “Pay-for-Slay” terror reward program, spending hundreds of millions of dollars every year paying robust salaries and allowances to terrorists and their families. At the same time, Abbas launched a multi-front international lawfare assault to delegitimize Israel in the international community and international public opinion.

Cosmetic Changes when Surgery Is Required

Given his track record and the U.S. call to “revitalize” the PA, Abbas is again trying to hoodwink the Americans and the international community by adopting cosmetic changes.

At the end of January 2024, the PA announced a slew of reforms, including the appointment of new regional governors (to replace twelve of them who Abbas sacked in August 2023), changes in the recruitment mechanisms of the PA security forces (that were even recruiting terrorists6), changes to the media market (that had shrunk as Abbas consolidated his dictatorial rule), and a restructuring of the health sector. At the time, senior PA officials said Washington requested the measures to achieve a “revitalized PA.”7

Now, the PA government has resigned,8 opening the door for Abbas to feign legitimacy again and appoint a new and “revitalized” technocrat government.

Abbas approved the cosmetic and insignificant changes, assuming they would ensure the survival of the PA. He is bolstered by the U.S. repeated commitments to the “Two-State Solution” and rumors that U.S. Secretary of State Blinken ordered his staff to consider the implications of U.S. recognition of the non-existent “State of Palestine.”

Notwithstanding U.S. declarations, the PA has been an abject failure. Despite tens of billions of dollars of aid over the past 30 years, systematic failures of the PA and its leadership to establish a working and viable government have been clear for more than two decades.

The additional factor that undermines both the bona fides of the reforms and poses an increasing danger is the Russian-driven talks of “Palestinian reconciliation.”9 While reconciliation is often positive, “Palestinian reconciliation” means that a new bond will be formed between Abbas’ hated Fatah party and the genocidal Hamas movement. Reconciliation talks between the two rivals have been going on since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 – following its electoral win the year before – by killing Fatah members, on some occasions throwing them from the tops of buildings and in others dragging their bodies through the streets of Gaza.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with Ismail Haniyeh, Moscow, September 12, 2022
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with Ismail Haniyeh, Moscow, September 12, 2022. (Russian Foreign Ministry)

Facilitating the survival of Hamas through “reconciliation” and allowing the movement to continue to play a central role in Palestinian society would be unacceptable to Israel, which has sworn to destroy both the military and governance capabilities of the terrorist movement that planned and led the massacre.

If successful, the Russian-led efforts would undermine the efforts of the U.S. administration to assist the Palestinians in fighting terror and undermine the repeated call of President Biden to “eliminate” Hamas.

Policy Recommendations

The piecemeal measures offered by Abbas to effectively “revitalize” the PA are insufficient. To “revitalize” the PA, a two-pronged strategy must be adopted: one that would address its relations with Israel and another to manage its internal governance.

Regarding the PA relations with Israel, Brig. Gen. (res) Yossi Kupperwasser and this author recently mapped out six non-negotiable steps the PA must take as a condition of its reconstruction.10 These steps include the need to condemn the October 7 massacre, abolish the PA/PLO’s “Pay-for-Slay” policy, recognize Israel as the State of the Jewish people, cease incitement to murder and glorifying terror against Israelis, halt all PA political assaults on Israel in international fora, while actively combatting terror.

Regarding the PA’s internal workings, several necessary steps must be adopted.

First, 88-year-old Abbas must resign. Now in his 19th year of his first four-year term, Abbas was never popular among the Palestinians, and his overt corruption resulted in broad public demand that he vacate his position as PA leader. New PA elections should be held under international supervision, both for the position of PA Chairman and PA parliament. Internationally designated terrorist organizations such as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine would not be allowed to participate, whether running under their own name or any other pseudonym. The new PA Chairman and Parliament would function under strict international stewardship to prevent their radicalization.

Second, the leadership and staff of the PA Ministry of Finance would need to be replaced by agreed-upon international personnel, who would ensure the elimination of corruption, that the PA budget be spent for the purposes for which it was designated, as opposed to enriching Abbas’s family or Fatah cronies or to incentivize, support, and reward terror.

Third, the PA judiciary over which Abbas has taken complete control must be disbanded and reconstituted under the guidance and control of agreed international authorities.11

Finally, the PA must sever its ties with the PLO, whose members still include internationally designated terror organizations and to whom the PA funnels hundreds of millions of dollars annually without justification.12

Only once these preliminary steps, both internally and in its relations with Israel, are adopted, would it be possible to further assess what a truly “revitalized” PA would look like.

* * *

Notes

Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch

Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch served as Director of the Military Prosecution for Judea and Samaria. Since retiring from the IDF, Hirsch worked as the Head of Legal Strategies for Palestinian Media Watch, as a Senior Military Consultant for NGO Monitor, an advisor to the Ministry of Defense, and head of an advisory committee in the Ministry of Interior. Hirsch was the architect of the Israeli law that strips citizenship from Israeli terrorists who have been convicted for terror offenses, sentenced to a custodial sentence, and receive a payment from the Palestinian Authority as a reward for their acts of terror.
Share this

Subscribe to Daily Alert

The Daily Alert – Israel news digest appears every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Related Items

Stay Informed, Always

Get the latest news, insights, and updates directly in your inbox—be the first to know!

Subscribe to Jerusalem Issue Briefs
The Daily Alert – Israel news digest appears every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.







Notifications

The Jerusalem Center
What makes a child believe killing a #Jew is justified?

In PA textbooks, Jews are called liars and frauds; their fate: elimination. This is #indoctrination—not #education. But change is happening. On East to West, @IMPACT_SE CEO Marcus Sheff exposes how #UNRWA-funded schools are fueling extremism—and what real reform looks like.  Listen now on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2JHqh973U  Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/8OkJTGNfVUc

11:43am
The Jerusalem Center
Highlights from the @Jerusalem_Post Annual Conference in NYC:

Dr. @Dan_Diker, President of the JCFA: “October 7 wasn’t just an attack on Israel — it was a blow to the U.S. on Israeli soil. It demands moral clarity and a united front between Israel and the U.S. to defeat jihadist terror.”

2:20pm
The Jerusalem Center
@XAVIAERD says it like it is

Well, @XAVIAERD says it like it is: If you’re part of “#Queers for #Palestine,” he’ll pay for your flight to #Gaza. Go see for yourself how they treat LGBTQ+ people over there. Don’t miss this bold take on the Israel-Hamas war and the woke right.

2:32pm
The Jerusalem Center
“This isn’t Israel vs. Hamas — it’s the frontline of the free world.”

“This isn’t Israel vs. Hamas — it’s the frontline of the free world.” On Our Middle East by @JNS_org, @Dan_Diker@KhaledAbuToameh (JCFA/@GatestoneInst) break it down: If Hamas isn’t crushed, Iran wins. The jihadis—from #Gaza to your campus—get the green light. Diker: “This war is for the West.” No fluff. No filters. Just raw insight from two insiders who actually know what’s going on.  Watch: youtu.be/4Aq_zcbb4Yo

2:15pm
The Jerusalem Center
5/5 Lt. Col. Kalo on East to West with @smartinezamir:

“This operation showcases Israel’s strategic intelligence superiority both regionally and globally. It demonstrates the moral commitment to recovered soldiers and also strengthens Israel’s position with allies.” youtube.com/watch?v=nIvNNi

2:07pm
The Jerusalem Center
4/5 The operation built on intelligence gathered during the 2019 #Baumel recovery

#Mossad agents operated under cover in #Syria for years, visiting a graveyard multiple times under fire to collect remains for DNA matching. The intelligence community’s evolution combines technology, big data analysis, and human intelligence capabilities.

2:02pm
The Jerusalem Center
3/5 This recovery coincided with the release of Israeli hostage Edan Alexander

This recovery coincided with the release of Israeli hostage Edan Alexander from #Hamas in #Gaza, significantly boosting national morale amid an ongoing conflict now stretching over 18 months. The dual successes demonstrate #Israel‘s unwavering commitment to bringing all soldiers home.

1:58pm
The Jerusalem Center
2/5 The operation used the power vacuum following #Assad’s fall from #Damascus

Lt. Col. Avi Kalo, former head of IDF Prisoners & Missing Persons Division, calls it “an outstanding event that brings hope and new spirit to the people of Israel.” The operation utilized the power vacuum following #Assad‘s fall from #Damascus, allowing #Israeli intelligence to deploy ground capabilities in #Syria.

1:56pm
The Jerusalem Center
1/5 Israeli forces recovered the remains of Sergeant First Class Zvi Feldman

In an unprecedented operation, Israeli forces have recovered the remains of Sergeant First Class Zvi #Feldman, missing since the 1982 Battle of Sultan Yacoub. The complex #Mossad mission was conducted deep within #Syrian territory, 43 years after his disappearance. This follows the successful 2019 recovery of Zachary #Baumel from the same battle.

1:54pm
The Jerusalem Center
A molotov attack on a bus = a “barbecue party”?

That’s what #Palestinian kids are being taught under @UNRWA  — from grade school to graduation. This isn’t education. It’s indoctrination. Marcus Sheff of @IMPACT_SE  breaks it down with @smartinezamir

12:51pm

Close