Which authority does Netanyahu want to save, and which successor does he intend to install?

Media and political sources reported that the Netanyahu government is studying ways to strengthen the authority and prevent it from collapsing, and that President Mahmoud Abbas is studying the idea of ​​appointing a deputy for him in response to external pressures. In order to fill the gap that exists after the dissolution of the Legislative Council; This will create a constitutional vacuum in the event of a vacancy in the position of the president, especially after the president's age.

According to the Basic Law of the Authority, the Speaker of the Legislative Council holds the position of President for a period of sixty days until presidential elections are held, and this is what happened after the assassination of the late President Yasser Arafat; Rawhi Fattouh replaced Arafat until Mahmoud Abbas was elected president.

According to informed sources, the formation of the new Constitutional Court comes in the context of preparing for the transitional period. Where there are several jurisprudences that include the appointment of a vice-president by choosing a specific person or by virtue of his position as vice-president, and this needs to pass a law allowing the creation of the position of vice-president, or authorize the unelected Central Council - which replaced the elected Legislative Council, as it was delegated illegally With the powers of the National Assembly - by resolving this issue, by authorizing the Speaker of the National Assembly or the President of the Constitutional Court to fill a vacancy in the position of the President in the transitional period for a temporary period until elections are held, which the internal and external parties, and the occupation in particular, will not allow to be held, unless the results are guaranteed.

eroded legitimacy

Despite the importance of the law, it is not the law that is decisive, but rather the balance of power, internal wills, and external interventions to decide on an issue of the size of the succession of the president. This is for a simple reason; Because all the legitimacy of the Palestinian institutions eroded.

On the one hand, the date for the formation of a new National Council was due long ago, and everything that happened in the past period, including the appointments of new members and the exclusion of old members, some of whom were illegally established in the organization, including the election of members of the Executive Committee from the Central Council, not the National The organization’s statute also provides for the election of the head of the National Fund, which there is a clear provision that he must be elected directly by the National Council, and there is a loss of political quorum due to the boycott of the founding factions of the organization, and the failure to invite important factions such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad and legal personalities, in addition to not taking into account The representativeness of the organization for the Palestinians wherever they are, in addition to the loss of the agreed-upon national program after the approved programs, especially the Oslo program, reached a dead end, as well as the lack of national reconciliation that could provide temporary legitimacy until presidential, legislative and national council elections are held, and institutions are reconfigured accordingly. National foundations, democracy and true partnership.

On the other hand, no presidential and legislative elections have been held since 2005 and 2006, respectively, and this delegitimizes what is in place. Where the solution is not to appoint a vice president, but rather this procedure will make matters worse. Because it will open the door to external interference and the struggle for succession more about who will be the vice president, and is it a position monopolized by the Fatah movement or a Palestinian matter, and is it confined to the controlling group, or does it include the national whole and other people, such as Marwan Barghouti, whom the polls give him a clear majority over Any other contender in the presidential election?

The position of Vice President is the beginning of the countdown to the term of President Mahmoud Abbas

Of course, the president does not welcome the idea of ​​a vice president so far, at least, for two reasons: First, because it opens the door to the fiercest competition for succession under the president’s term, and the lack of a candidate capable of deciding. Secondly, and most importantly, the president's realization that the countdown to his term will start from the moment he appoints a deputy, as this will encourage local, regional and international players, and the Israeli player who played and plays a very important role, to transfer power, especially since there is a kind of weakness, if not a leadership vacuum. There is no effective leadership role. The president's performance in recent years has been dominated by the strategy of staying and waiting, and this has contributed to the weakening of the authority.

Path change required

What the PA, the organization, and the Palestinians all need is a radical change of path by the circles, forces, and individuals affected by the approved path, after the path (indeed, the approved paths) has reached the catastrophe we are living through, and after Israel has moved from the program of creeping annexation, gradual nibbling, and the creation of facts on the ground. , as a prelude to imposing the Israeli solution, to the program of rapid conflict resolution, accelerated annexation, displacement and Judaization.

No to appointing a vice president, as it means keeping the disastrous situation as it is, and keeping the Palestinian decision in the hands of or at the mercy of the occupation, which now controls everything. Perhaps Netanyahu's new statements about uprooting the idea of ​​a Palestinian state, and ending the Palestinians' aspirations for its establishment, do not reflect fundamental changes to the original position, but rather mark the beginning of a new phase in which the Israeli government seeks to impose the Israeli position on annexation on everyone, including the Palestinians, Americans and others, and push them to abandon Talking about and demanding a two-state solution, and accepting or coexisting with the Israeli solution that is being implemented, which does not accommodate more than self-rule (within two or three or more authorities) under Israeli sovereignty.

Netanyahu's talk about strengthening power is absurd

Netanyahu's talk about strengthening the authority and preventing it from collapsing and bankruptcy is absurd and meaningless. The occupation, with all its aggression, assassinations, house demolitions, displacement, settlement expansion, suffocating siege, dismemberment, racial discrimination, as well as the storming of territories, including Palestinian cities In a way that completely abolishes the differences between areas (A), (B) and (C) ... it exposes the authority and marginalizes its role more and more, including killing the peace process and the two-state solution, and deducting clearing funds under the pretext that the authority pays the salaries of prisoners and the families of martyrs, and claims after All this is because he wants to help the authority financially, and prevent it from collapse and bankruptcy.

The Oslo authority is dead, and a new authority is about to be born

The authority that arose after Oslo, and was part of a political process, negotiations, and mutual commitments, no matter how dysfunctional it was, and aspired to be a stage on the way to the state, died long ago, and the authority that Netanyahu wants to maintain and reproduce is the new functional authority that is an organic part of Israeli security It does not engage in negotiations with it, but conditions and dictates are imposed on it, and it does not express the national identity and rights of the Palestinian people, but rather separate individuals and groups who are rewarded with crumbs and facilities, in return for betraying the interests and aspirations of their people, and therefore it is not required to appoint a vice president to head this new authority, but what is required A new-style authority that is part of its people's battle against the occupation and for national liberation.

And when Netanyahu disagrees with ministers in his government because they want to dissolve the authority, as it expresses national identity, and replace it with local administrations and authorities that are separate from each other, he does not want the Oslo authority as bad as it is, but rather a limiting authority par excellence, and he wants the succession struggle not to lead to the collapse of the authority that serve the interests of Israel.

The director redefining and renewing the national project

The way out of this deep Palestinian impasse is not a new agreement of unity between the factions similar to the previous agreements. The Palestinians need much more than that, to revive the national project, redefine it, and renew it, in light of the new circumstances, risks, realities, emerging experiences, available opportunities, and regional changes. The international community, and whoever undertakes this task is the one who holds the key to salvation and is able to lead the Palestinian people. So, it is necessary:

First: That the Palestinians renew their adherence to their national project after reformulating it, and know who they are exactly, where they stand, what they want now, and in the medium and long term, and what can be achieved at this stage, and how can this be done?

Second: The forces, institutions, and individuals that believe in reviving the national project, the choice of resistance, the unity of the people, the cause, the land, and the historical narrative, by taking the initiative, moving to impose the will and interests of the Palestinians, and blocking the path to hostile plans, including the installation of a caliph, leadership, and authority that is completely dependent on the occupation that perpetuates the current fait accompli and transforms it. to a final solution.