Ramallah braces for Trump: Palestinians must ‘recalibrate policies’
Concerned by President-elect Donald Trump’s impending return to the White House, the Palestinian Authority is already bracing for a new administration in Washington.
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in New York City in 2018. Credit: A Katz/Shutterstock.
“The Palestinian Authority understands it must recalibrate its policies,” a senior PA official told The Press Service of Israel. Demands for significant PA reforms coming from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have already intensified with Trump’s re-election, he said.
“The war in Gaza sharpened the division into camps in the Middle East,” he said, explaining that the PA “is more identified in public opinion with the ‘Axis of Resistance’ and therefore must change its policy,” he told TPS-IL.
During a recent meeting between PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the latter reportedly emphasized the urgency of sweeping changes. These reforms, Sisi argued, are essential for maintaining diplomatic relations with a potential second Trump administration and positioning the PA to participate in any future political solution for Gaza, the source said.
The official also told TPS-IL that Ramallah expects Trump will provide Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with significant political leeway, potentially sidelining Palestinian interests. “The fear is that Trump’s return would embolden Israel to further marginalize the Palestinian cause,” he said.
“The American consulate in Jerusalem hasn’t reopened, the PLO offices in Washington are still closed, and the PLO remains on the U.S. terror list,” he added.
The Biden administration has been pressuring Abbas to reform the PA as a precursor to it taking responsibility for the administration and reconstruction of Gaza.
Reforms include cutting down the PA’s bloated and inefficient bureaucracy, replacing diplomats representing the PA abroad, and initiating an internal self-investigation mechanism within the Palestinian Preventive Security.
Ramallah is hoping to satisfy US demands with, among other things, a Palestinian technocratic government that includes “softcore” Hamas members and indirect “pay-for-slay” funding.
The PA source told TPS-IL that officials are resistant to the reforms, saying they are skeptical that the reforms will have an impact on Israeli policy.
Palestinians are also sceptical of reform. A survey released in June by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found 90% of Palestinans are dissatisfied with Abbas’s leadership and want him to resign. Palestinians have not held national elections since 2005 and Abbas is now in the 19th year of what was supposed to be a four-year term. Since then, Abbas has cancelled several attempted elections amid Fatah-Hamas disagreements, most recently in 2021.
“A renewed political assessment is imperative if the Palestinian Authority is to navigate these challenges effectively,” the PA official told TPS-IL.
