The events of the month of Ramadan clearly illustrate the great decline in the PA’s position on the Palestinian street, the impression is created that the PA has completely disappeared from the media discourse that was seized by the Hamas organization that led the struggle against Israel on the Temple Mount and by firing rockets from Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon .
The atmosphere on the Palestinian street is reminiscent of the atmosphere it had in May 2021, which led to the IDF’s major military operation in the Gaza Strip.
The leaks from the Pentagon documents in the US greatly embarrassed the PA, they revealed how the PA misleads the Palestinian public and secretly continues security coordination with Israel, another blow to the credibility of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
The PA is embarrassed, a date has not yet been set for another meeting of the joint security forum of the US, Israel, the PA, Jordan and Egypt after two meetings in Aqaba and Sharm Al-Sheikh before Ramadan in an attempt to calm the violence on the ground.
The position of the armed groups in the northern West Bank has strengthened at the expense of the PA’s position on the Palestinian street, the reasons for this are many and the majority on the Palestinian street believe that it has finished its historical role, a Palestinian public opinion poll by a research institute in Ramallah headed by Dr. Khalil Shkaki states that 54 percent of the Palestinian public believes that the collapse of the Palestinian Authority or its dissolution is in the best interests of the Palestinian people.
More than 70 percent of the public does not believe in the political process with Israel and supports an armed struggle against it.
There are several reasons for the great weakening of public support for the PA.
- The failure of the Oslo Accords after 30 years, the PA was supposed to be a temporary entity that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, however, many on the Palestinian street believe that Mahmoud Abbas, who was elected in 2005 as Chairman of the PA, unsuccessfully led the Palestinian struggle for independence.
- The widespread corruption in the Palestinian Authority’s mechanisms, the Palestinian street feels that the corruption is led by the Chairman of the PA Mahmoud Abbas, his two sons and the gang that surrounds them, a phenomenon that affects all the mechanisms of the Palestinian Authority.
- The PA’s dictatorial rule, the violation of human rights and the suppression of freedom of expression, the most prominent example of which is the murder of the human rights activist Nizar Banat in Hebron by the PA’s security personnel because of his harsh criticism of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
- The continuation of Israel’s settlement policy and conflicts on the ground between settlers and Palestinians, the most prominent example of this is the events in the town of Hawara, following the murder of two Israeli citizens, settlers attacked Palestinian homes and property in the town.
- Continued entry of IDF forces into the centers of Palestinian cities in order to thwart planned attacks by the Palestinian armed groups and for the purpose of making wanted arrests.
- The continuation of security coordination with Israel, the mood on the Palestinian street is that the PA has become a large municipal body that manages day-to-day life in the West Bank but is also practically the executive contractor of the Israeli security establishment.
The public atmosphere in the West Bank is difficult, frustration and despair are increasing in addition to the difficult economic situation, about 20,000 teachers have been on strike since February until now, demanding to solve salary problems, the deficit in the Palestinian Authority’s budget continues, Arab countries have stopped annual financial aid to the PA, and the donor countries do not want to transfer money because of the corruption in the PA mechanisms.
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas avoids holding general elections for the presidency and the parliament and blames Israel for it, the truth is that he fears a personal defeat in the presidential elections and a big loss for the Fatah movement in the parliamentary elections, similar to its loss in the elections to the Hamas movement in 2006.
The weakening of the PA could lead to its collapse and the creation of a governmental and security vacuum in the area that will be filled by armed militias that have already begun to rise in the north of the West Bank, today there are already about 9 such militias, the most prominent of which is the Lion’s Den group in the city of Nablus.
Such a scenario will have serious consequences for the Palestinians who may be dragged into security anarchy in all the West Bank areas and into a civil war and also lead to an increase in terrorism against Israel.
Israel has no solution to the situation and neither does the international community, in the meantime PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is the legal official address of the Palestinians but this will not last much longer due to his advanced age (88) and his health condition, the future does not bode well for the Palestinians and Israel.
