Veteran Fatah official Hussein Al-Sheikh, 64, was recently appointed as Vice President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), making him the next in line to assume leadership should the presidency, currently occupied by Mahmoud Abbas, 89, become available. In his new role as vice president, as well as deputy chair of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Abbas's trusted associate faces a long list of challenges.
First and foremost, he will have to contend with the PA's rising unpopularity. Large swathes of Palestinian society see the Authority as unable to address their needs—a perception that was acknowledged by several senior former PA officials whom I interviewed, and something I witnessed firsthand during several visits to the occupied territories. Many will view Al-Sheikh’s appointment as a continuation of a discredited political framework rooted in decrepit power structures.
Furthermore, many Palestinian citizens and intellectuals see the PA as incapable of confronting the realities of Israeli aggression, let alone stopping the ongoing genocide in Gaza. They view the old guard as being unable to effectively respond to the changing regional and international dynamics, and Al-Sheikh's appointment as a continuation of the old ways of working and an obstacle to genuine reform.
As such, Al-Sheikh’s main challenge will be winning the support of the Palestinian population and overcoming the PA’s sweeping unpopularity. If he can overcome this first hurdle, he will then have the even more complicated task of negotiating with his political rival, Hamas, and navigating internal Palestinian divisions.
US-Israel pressure
A third challenge will be handling mounting US-Israeli pressure to sideline Hamas, and as such, he will be keen to demonstrate his ability to enforce a strict zero-tolerance policy against any signs of support for the group in the occupied West Bank. He will also likely be tasked with negotiating a framework for the PA’s partial or full return to the Gaza Strip once the Israeli war concludes.
But given Israel’s insistence on indefinitely occupying the Strip, Al-Sheikh will certainly have his work cut out for him. The complexities and challenges of managing Gaza necessitate regional and international cooperation from countries like Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the US.
Another key challenge Al-Sheikh will face is dealing with an Israeli premier who vehemently opposes a Palestinian state. Benjamin Netanyahu recently chastised French President Emmanuel Macron for making "a terrible mistake" by "continuing to advance the idea of a Palestinian state."
Unlike his predecessor Ehud Olmert, who supports a Palestinian state alongside Israel and negotiation with the PA, Netanyahu has not initiated a single meeting with Abbas during his more than 16 years in power. This intransigence, along with that of his right-wing base, could end up being the main obstacle to Al-Sheikh’s quest for political legitimacy.
