Abbas' succession... How and by whom?

After President Mahmoud Abbas reached the age of eighty-eight, there was more talk of his succession, or the stage after him, even though he behaved as if he would live forever.

The strange thing is that the least of those who raise this issue in “public” solutions are the Palestinians, and the most who raise it are the Israelis, and this case has produced a valuable Israeli advantage. It is monopolizing the issue and unilaterally influencing public opinion, even at the level of offering names and opportunities. How should the Hebrew state act, if Abbas is suddenly absent from the scene, leaving behind a Palestinian situation dominated by chaos and internal conflict?

And when the media treatment is absent due to caution and unwillingness to hit the glass, popular discussions flourish. Not out of curiosity, but out of anxiety about ambiguity and fear of the void that chaos will fill. In all discussions, the specter of armed fighting between the conflicting parties is not ruled out, whether within the successor movement Fatah or on a broader level. Here, Hamas enters as a lurking party that does not talk much about the matter, but is working more on it.

In the Palestinian case, every big and small thing in it is directly and indirectly related to Israel, which, with Abbas and in his absence, has influence and influence in the paths and outcomes. Perhaps in that lies the urgent interest in what will happen after Abbas, and how does Israel interfere in the matter? The names circulated in the issue of succession come from Israeli nominations. It seems naive to consider them innocent or objective. Israel, which seeks long-term control over the Palestinian situation as a whole, considers who will come after Abbas as part of its vision of control policy and arrangements. That is why it presents multiple scenarios in which all related possibilities are presented. With the people proposed by it, and the only thing that it and other players in the arena avoid is the elections, which Israel fears will bring a president who is not suitable for its agenda, after providing the popular legitimacy that he enjoyed... a space for independence that obstructs the strongly advanced Israeli path towards The desired control, and will also provide him with effective international support even from Israel's friends who can only deal with an elected president, chosen by the Palestinians of their own free will, and through the finest means... the ballot box.

The striking phenomenon that characterizes the different positions on the issue of the Palestinian presidency is that the election condition is completely absent... and that fear of what the elections will produce is the agreed-upon justification for avoiding them. Therefore, "intimidation" is proposed that the elected speaker of the Legislative Council, who is from "Hamas", assume the presidency. Temporary according to the basic system, which is the constitution of the authority, and if this issue is bypassed by agreement or tacit understanding on any alternative, then the story will appear that a “Hamasawi” will win the presidency, and this is enough to rule out the idea of ​​elections. Although, on the other hand, everyone acknowledges that the continuation of the status quo and its withdrawal to the post-Abbas stage... would be the most dangerous and most harmful.

The Palestinian Authority... which is weak and linked, whether or not, to the Israeli umbilical cord... is the first Israeli option; That is, the latter as well, because it is useful in the matter of its desired control, present and future.

However, the continuity of the authority according to what Israel designs for it seems not guaranteed, as it is thus perpetuated as a heavy burden on the millions of Palestinians, who unanimously reject its rule and legitimacy as long as it derives its existence and work space from what Israel allows, and it will also be a permanent candidate for collapse, and this puts Everyone is facing a situation that is impossible to control, and Israel will not escape harm when it finds itself face to face with millions of Palestinians, and the barrier that it used to benefit from in the field of control has been removed.

The situation that is imposed on the Palestinians, through the preservation of the authority weak, and the survival of the occupation, settlement and Israeli control over life, capabilities and prospects, will inevitably lead to disasters produced by vacuum, chaos and lack of reference.

Neither Israel is able to swallow the Palestinian situation, no matter how weak it is, nor is the region able to avoid the catastrophic repercussions of the “chaotic” Palestinian situation, nor the world, which is very comfortable with the current stalemate, will continue to be satisfied when the Palestinian-Israeli track turns into an impossible state of chaos, violence and loss of control.

The closest distance between two points is a straight line.

In order for the prohibited danger not to occur, there must be a proactive action that does not wait for the disaster to occur until it thinks about finding solutions to it, when it is too late.

And because the Palestinian situation is no longer only Palestinian, there is no choice but to Arab, regional and international intervention that encourages the Palestinians first to restore their political system, which has the legitimacy of decision-making, and this was what was available at the time of the strong and effective PLO, and to remove the obstacles that prevent the Palestinians from going to the polls to elect their parliament. Their president, the production of their government, and the opening of a political horizon in which the Palestinians see hope and a path that deserves to be followed, and if that is difficult, then maintaining the status quo is even more difficult.