Salam Fayyad's Resignation

Palestinian National Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s resignation last week happened at a crucial time for President Mahmoud Abbas and for the Obama administration, which is trying to re-activate talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. Fayyad’s resignation has caused a diverse number of reactions between Palestinian factions, as well as serious worry in various capital cities.

Since his appointment to the position of Finance Minister by former President Yasser Arafat in 2001, Fayyad — under pressure from former National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice — served as trustee of the countries donating to the Palestinian National Authority. As a former World Bank official with a PhD in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin, he safeguarded the treasury, and world leaders assured their citizens that their money was in good hands. Fayyad cut 40,000 jobs and established security, education, health and social assistance organizations in the West Bank. His political independence gave him greater credibility in Western and Israeli eyes.

In 2009, he presented his plan, entitled “Palestine: Ending the Occupation, Establishing the State.” This plan includes, among other things, the separation of powers, free commerce and infrastructure development — such as governmental offices, as well as the stock market and the airport. Establishment of these would serve the purpose of establishing a de facto Palestinian state to be declared in 2011.

The freezing of negotiations, the continuing expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the cold relationship between the Benjamin Netanyahu government and the Palestinian National Authority, and ultimately, the retention of financial resources — after Abbas’ decision to obtain recognition of Palestine as a state in the United Nations — were elements played by Fatah and Hamas, which were looking to politically damage Fayyad, considered an U.S.-Israeli agent.

Akiva Eldar, an Israeli columnist, quoted a high-level Israeli official some time ago:

“You know what my biggest nightmare is? That one day I arrive for one of my regular coordination meetings with Fayyad and he hands me the keys to the Palestinian Authority, shakes my hand and goes home.”

In such a scenario, the Israeli government would be forced to impose military order on the West Bank, pay the salaries of the police, teachers, bureaucrats and nurses, establish infrastructure and maintain order, all while the territory could go up in flames, and there would be no opportunity to impose taxes on the Palestinian population. For this reason, dismantling the Palestinian Authority would cost Israel $4 billion.

Now, the pressure is on the Palestinian leaders to replace the current fight for a two-state solution with a fight for equal rights within one single state, from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River.

The new Israeli government, which is trying to increase the colonies in the West Bank to 1 million, will agree more readily to this argument.

The resignation of Fayyad brought about certain questions: How much longer with the Palestinian National Authority continue to act as a subcontractor of Israel? How long will U.S., European and Japanese taxpayers accept the load of the Oslo Accords, which were launched 20 years ago and have gone nowhere?

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide , who is head of the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee for Assistance to Palestinians, conveyed the following message during his last visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah last April 4: If the diplomatic process continues to be on hold, many donating countries will stop transferring their contributions to the Palestinian National Authority. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Eide warned Netanyahu:

“We shall not pay the bill forever. The money is intended to build the institutions of the Palestinian state, but if such a state is not to exist, there’s no point in giving money.”

Fayyad was the most important contact between Israel and the Palestinians, between the Authority and the West. Can his resignation shake the bridge that has supported a failed diplomacy for so long? The answer is in Washington and Tel Aviv.