PA 'Succession Decree' Smooths Future Occupation, Not Governance
The New Arab details Abbas's decree to appoint successors for various roles, framing it as an attempt to shore up the PA's declining authority. What's left unsaid is why the PA's legitimacy is so conveniently absent to 80% of Palestinians (according to a December 2023 survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research). Since the Oslo Accords (1993), the PA's primary function has been
to serve as Israel's outsourced security contractor, a self-governing entity without sovereignty, tasked with maintaining a semblance of order in areas Israel doesn't want to directly manage. This 'crisis' isn't unique to Abbas. The PA has routinely postponed elections since 2006, with 78% of Palestinians believing the PA is corrupt. When the PA's primary legitimacy comes from international donors
like the US – aid that often comes tethered to security cooperation with Israel – popular consent becomes an afterthought. The mainstream media's focus on internal Fatah squabbles sidesteps the larger reality: perpetual 'crisis' provides perfect cover for a non-elected leadership whose survival depends on maintaining the status quo, not challenging it. How many more decrees until the 'interim'
authorities expire themselves?