1. Summary: It appears that the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) – Mahmud Abbas – has an heir apparent: Hussein Al-Sheikh, Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). At 61, Al-Sheikh is agile, professional and maintains good working ties with the United States and Israel. Nonetheless, he is facing the PLO’s “old guard” who have more credentials, tribal and public support, and access to resource than he does. The future of a post-Abbas Palestine remains in question and Al-Sheikh cannot embody a certain answer to that at the time.
2. In May 2022, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas appointed Hussein Al-Sheikh as Secretary of the Executive Committee of the PLO. The position is more of “an everything Minister” in the PLO, and is considered one of the strongest position within the organization. The general feeling within the ranks of the PLO and the Israeli establishment is that Abbas had informally declared Al-Sheikh his heir apparent.
3. An Israeli official has confirmed with JaFaJ that “Al-Sheikh is the most likely candidate to serve as Abbas’s successor”. He added “Abbas has expressed this to us, the Americans don’t seem to mind him, and we won’t argue”. The source added, “All we want is for the security coordination to remain and not to see the territories [the West bank] ruled by Hamas.” The source continued by saying, “we don’t care who fills the job as long as these issues are secured”. On whether Al-Sheikh could survive as the PA’s president, the official said, “We won’t interfere in their internal affairs, we know and they know it’s in our mutual interest to keep the cooperating going, or they will lose”. An American with connections to intelligence operations in Jerusalem told JaFaJ sources: “Leading the Palestinians is a hard and dangerous job, what else do you think is the reason Abbas won’t pass it to one of his sons?”
4. At 61, Al-Sheikh is agile, intelligent, well-spoken, very organized and somewhat open about his political aspirations. Despite not being the most famous or well known Palestinian official, Al-Sheikh has been the Chief of the Higher Civil Affairs Committee (CAC) since 2007. This committee oversees all sorts of civil needs of the Palestinians from Israel. This has made Al-Sheikh a very influential man. Be it treatment at Israeli hospitals, special permission to visit Jerusalem, or a work permit in Israel, Al-Sheikh is the gatekeep for all of these. This shows the level of confidence Abbas had in Al-Sheikh by giving him this very sensitive position at an early stage of Abbas’s presidency.
5. Additionally, his position at CAC has required sustaining good ties to both the Israeli civil government bodies and the military. Therefore, Al-Sheikh is quite respected and trusted by several Israeli officials and high-ranking service men.
6. In addition, being the czar of Palestinian access to civil services from Israel has won him many favors with many Palestinians. For example, a work permit to Israel is considered a golden ticket for the average Palestinian, and Al-Sheikh has facilitated the issuance of thousands of these over the years.
Al-Sheikh’s Weaknesses
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7. While nobody expects Al-Sheikh’s succession of Abbas to be easy, Al-Sheikh is facing problems that may make such a move rather very hard, if not impossible. The first is his relatively young age and combat history. At almost 62, Al-Sheikh is considered a “kid” by the mainstream PLO dinosaurs, including the big names like Abbas Zaki, Ahmed Qurei and Jibreel Al-Rjoub. While most of those strong men are in their eighties, they remain influential and are apparently clutching to their positions of power, seemingly to the last breath. And even in death, their children are deeply rooted inside the PLO establishment and the PA government bodies. To them, Al-Sheik is an outsider and amateur.
8. Furthermore, the PLO dinosaurs question Al-Sheikh’s credentials as a “freedom fighter”. His history of activities against Israel including being a member of the coordination committee of the first intifada which landed him a decade behind bars of Israeli jails. Nonetheless, having spent all his life in the West Bank, Al-Sheikh never took part in the PLO’s armed battles against Israel, which the PLO old guards wear as a badge of honor. For example, Al-Sheikh never participated in the Lebanese Civil War. In other words, they will never see Al-Sheikh as “combat tested” and therefore are less likely to accept him as their leader.
Lack of Tribal Connections
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9. Additionally, Al-Sheikh does not belong to any major Palestinian tribes. Unlike some of his potential adversaries, his family tree is rather small, numbering a few hundred at best. In addition, born in Ramallah, Al-Sheikh does not belong to any of the Palestinian towns known for tribal concentration and loyalty to natives. For example, residents of Hebron are made up of very large tribes who are known to favor and support all PLO officials who are natives of the city. Al-Sheikh does not enjoy any of this.
Accusations of Corruption and Nepotism
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10. Like all Palestinian officials, Al-Sheikh has been accused of corruption. A fan of fancy imported suits and German cars, Al-Sheikh’s lifestyle remains within the norm of the average Palestinian official. Nonetheless, his enemies can mobilize these accusations to launch a campaign against him if he succeeds Abbas. Traces of it can already be found in the Palestinian media. Al-Sheikh does not have either the connections, the public support or the muscle to counter such a campaign.
Lack of Media Exposure, the New York Times Failure
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11. Additionally, Al-Sheikh does not have any media backing under his belt. The Palestinian media is controlled by either the PLO old guard or Hamas. Both are his rivals. Furthermore, Arab media is controlled by the Gulf States, and they don’t seem to pay a lot of attention to him. He had one run with Western Media upon advice from one of his friends who had a connection to the New York Times (NYT) correspondent, Patrick Kingsley. Despite having given Kingsley an exclusive and being too accommodating to him, the NYT story turned out to be negative, focusing on Al-Sheikh’s “liaison to Israel”, noting that some critics call him a “spokesman for the occupation”.
12. The NYT’s description of “liaison to Israel” was not exactly accurate because Al-Sheikh coordinates civil affairs and facilitates Palestinian access to Israeli services. By using the word “liaison” or “coordination with Israel”, the Palestinians usually refer to security cooperation which they hold responsible for the death and imprisonment of thousands of Palestinian militants. Nonetheless, this incident exhibits Al-Sheikh’s lack of experience when it comes to Western media, which would be happy to chew him up and spit him out alive if he becomes president.
Abbas is Rooting for Al-Sheikh
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13. JaFaJ sources who are close to the Presidential Office in the PA have confirmed that “Abu Mazen [Abbas] is lobbying hard for Al-Sheikh”. A source who is also very close with the Palestinian Intelligence Department, has confirmed that “Abu Mazen has already informed the Israelis, the Americans and the Britons that he wants this man as his successor, and is rallying support for him”. The source added that he should not expect any serious opposition from abroad, and that “the only trouble he may receive are those from Mohammad Dahlan who wants to be the next [Palestinian] President. [COMMENT: Mohammad Dahlan is a former senior PLO member and senior PA Security Official. His differences with Abbas over PLO policy, have forced him into the role of a dissident. Dahlan resides in Dubai where is considered “wanted” by Abbas. END COMMENT]
Conclusion
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14. Despite his agility, effectiveness and Abbas’s tremendous support for him, Al-Sheikh lacks public support to become the leader of the Palestinian people. Not only are odds stacked against him, but Abbas will be leaving him with a very heavy inheritance of public dismay, economic hardship, deep routed corruption and widespread unruliness within the different PLO factions. It is unlikely that Al-Sheikh will be able to control the West Bank or bring peace to it. For now, Abbas certainly remains without an eligible successor.