Salam Fayyad

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Salaam Fayyad

Interim Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister

SalamFayyad-jewishvirtuallibrary.jpg

Source: The Jewish Virtual Library, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Fayyad.html, Copyright 2007 The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise


Quotes

"I seek strong political ties with Israel; I seek strong economic ties between the independent states of Israel and Palestine. I seek warm relations with Israelis."

-- From Fayad's speech to the Seventh Annual Herzliya Conference, Israel, January 24, 2007

"I have always subscribed to the PLO's political program and all the commitments it embodies, including the recognition of Israel's right to exist and the renunciation of violence."

-- From "Palestinian Hope Held Hostage," Fayad's March 31, 2007, op-ed in the Los Angeles Times


Early Years and Education

You were born in the West Bank town of Tulkarem in 1952. Your pedigree in politics is well-established considering your father and grandfather were both esteemed members of the Jordanian Parliment. Following the Six Day War of 1967, your family relocated into Jordan proper. In 1975, you graduated from the American University of Beirut (Lebanon) with a degree in chemical engineering. You then continued your education in the United States successfully earning your MBA from St Edward's University (Texas) in 1980 and your Doctorate in economics from the University of Texas, Austin in 1986. You returned briefly to Jordan to teach economics at Yarmouk University.


Public Life

In 1987, you were invited to join the staff at the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis. This, in turn, led to staff positions at the World Bank in Washington, DC, where you remained until 1995. Your final three years at the World Bank you held the title, "Advisor to the Executive Director." Despite this influential position, you remained true to yourself by maintaining a low profile in your public life. In 1995, you returned to Israel and the Occupied Territories where you served as the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) representative to the PA. In this capacity, you had first-hand access and observation of PA fiscal policy and practices where you found unchecked corruption rampant throughout the organization and notwithstanding the longtime PA president and Fatah-founder, Yaser Arafat.

This confirmation of rampant corruption in the PA--which PA allies and insiders had long whispered about and opponents had squawked about--troubled you deeply. You knew that for the PA to ever gain true legitimacy in the world of international diplomacy (and hence statehood) that it need to clean up its own books and eradicate the festering corruption. Although never a major fan of Mr. Arafat, opportunity came knocking in 2002 from the heretofore mentioned president who offered you the position of PA Finance Minister. To be sure, Mr. Arafat was just as skeptical of you, considering you a threat to his authority given your American education, top-shelf work experience and impeccable reputation. However, in the end, the United States and the European Union (EU) pressured Mr. Arafat's government to give you the ministry. As a side note, you were also briefly considered by the late president to be the PA's first prime minister but again, you were judged too great a threat. Instead, Mr. Arafat tapped Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen)--a long time protege--to take the largely ceremonial position in an attempt to appease the Western negotiators. So began a power struggle between you and the late president over the fiscal policy of the PA until his death in November, 2004. You certainly did your best and scored numerous minor victories in bringing transparency to the PA's budget but frustration ruled the day as you struggled to breakdown "the longstanding system of patronage politics perpetuated by Arafat."1

In 2005, you resigned from the head of the ministry to form your own party, the Third Way, in anticipation of the forthcoming parliamentary elections. Your party won two seats in that election of 2006 that stunned the world when the Islamist and terrorist-associated party of Hamas carried the day. Embarrassed and badly wounded, Mr. Abbas and his Fatah party were put into the unprecedented position of having to negotiate for power in the PA. Again, you were considered a candidate for the premiership of the new government but you were cautious of being too closely associated with Hamas. Mr. Abbas and Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas elected Prime Minister, bickered for a year in attempt to form a unity government. All the while, the members of the Quartet resolved to withhold critical funding for the PA until Hamas met its demand to recognize Israel as a legitimate state and to renounce terrorism. In March of 2007, Saudi Arabia called Fatah and Hamas to the holy city of Mecca to broker a compromise for a unity government. The parties reluctantly agreed and later that month the PA had its first unity government. You were once again appointed the Finance Minister.

As you have long since known, Fatah and Hamas live in separate and probably irreconcilable realities. Given your moderate and generally neutral insight into Palestinian politics, you probably predicted the short-term lifespan of the "Unity Government." Following the bloodshed and carnage of the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June, 2007, President Abbas abolished the standing government and established an "emergency" government with you as the Prime Minister. Palestinian constitutional scholars continue to debate the legality of Mr. Abbas' actions, but with the support of the Quartet, Israel and world opinion, Mr. Abbas and you are now in charge.


Domestic Issues of Concern (political considerations, who are your allies/opponents?, etc)

Seeing how you now hold the position of "Emergency Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority," you have some serious domestic issues of concern! First and foremost, you operate in the deep and violent schism between Hamas and Fatah. You are not a member of either party but clearly your ideals align more closely with that of Fatah. You fundamentally disagree with the radical and violent stance of Hamas against Israel. Indeed, when you introduced your new government and its platform in June, 2007, your government omitted the word muqaawama, or armed resistance (against the Israelis), from the Fatah platform. You later clarified that resistance in other forms was still quite acceptable, but clearly you see moderation as important in finding solutions.

You also maintain your position as the Minister of Finance where you continue to seek transparency in the PA's economic affairs. After Hamas won the majority in the parliamentary elections of early 2006, Hamas refused to accept Israel as a nation or denounce terrorism against it. In response, Israel withheld monies collected at border crossings and tariffs while most of the world's donor states also cut off funds. This put you in the dire position of managing a state's burgeoning costs (i.e. paying state employees, welfare, infrastructure costs, etc.) with severely reduced income (you still received some from sympathetic Arab states). The good news is that with Hamas alienating itself in world opinion and the hope of the Quartet and Israel to bolster you and Mr. Abbas, the PA's coffers are now filling with millions of dollars. Spend wisely!

Allies come and go in the world of Middle Eastern politics and the shrewd politicians learn to play them as a conductor orchestrates the various sections of his orchestra. So too must you do with your "allies." At this time, you have the favor of your most critical constituencies: Mr. Abbas, the PA and most Palestinians living in the West Bank and exiled in Jordan. Unquestionably, Israel, the US, the EU and the UN have stated and signaled their full support of you. You've received lukewarm support from the fourth member of the Quartet, Russia. Most of the Arab states have so far denounced Hamas for their violent separatist actions and have generally supported Mr. Abbas in forming this new government which presumably equals tacit approval for you. Not surprisingly, Iran and Syria--key Hamas supporters--have made clear their intent to continue to support Hamas and have called Mr. Abbas' actions (including your appointment as prime minister) illegal. Hamas, of course, refuses to acknowledge your appointment and views the displaced Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniya, as the rightful (and legal) holder of your position.


Policies and Beliefs Pertaining to the Middle East

Being an economist at heart, you view much of the turmoil in the Middle East in general, and Palestine in specific, as deriving from economic imbalances. In short, your Palestinians are without a state, do not have complete control over their finances, lack an industrial base and therefore are devoid of opportunities to prosper as normal societies do. It is paramount in your mind that the Palestinian Authority finds genuine compromise between the conservatives of Hamas and the liberals of Fatah so that sound policy can be developed to strengthen internal and external perceptions of the PA. You further argue that this will lead to better negotiating leverage with the Israelis who currently dictate much policy to the PA. You are generally not one to believe in the "woe are we" school of thought so prevalent among many of your Palestinian and Arab peers. Your opinions formed in large part by your American higher education, you believe that Palestinians can be self-starters and succeed with hard work and minimal social welfare provided by outside institutions and governments. In other words, although you consider Israel in general to be an obstacle to Palestinian statehood and prosperity, the focus must be internal in creating an environment for Palestinians to succeed. Obviously, your beliefs are apparently diametrically opposed to the actions of Hamas who want to split the Palestinian people both physically and ideologically.


Role-Playing Notes (what's important to you?, what kind of person are you?, how much independence do you have?, etc)

You must find reconciliation among your fellow Palestinians. This is of paramount importance to you as you believe that no lasting peace can come without your people finding compromise. You are wary of the public spotlight and playing high-stakes politics, but you also know that you are probably the right man for the job considering your fairly neutral position between Fatah and Hamas. Leverage your positive status with the Quartet to keep pushing Israel to the table. Your stock value in Israel's eyes improved greatly when your government removed the wording of "armed resistance" being acceptable practice as policy. Again, you are a moderate. You are not a hard-liner unwavering on your "principles" as some of the other players insist on being.


Annotated List of References:

1. New Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad: Background Brief, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC11.php?CID=473, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2007 Washington DC

2. Abbas Appoints New Palestinian PM, http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/296DEC51-2A2A-4B53-BD4C-AEF6BD0BD7D3.htm, AlJazeera.net, 16 June 2007

3. Profile: Salam Fayyad, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6757273.stm, BBC News, 17 June 2007

4. Palestinian Affairs: Appointment of a Prime Minister to the Palestinian Authority, http://www.bicom.org.uk/publications/palestinian_affairs/s/901/appointment-of-a-prime-minister-to-the-palestinian-authority/, Britian Israel Communications & Research Centre, 04 March 2003

5. Israeli Gov't Mum on Palestinian PM's 'Right to Resist' Comments, http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200707/INT20070730d.html, CNSNews.com, 30 July 2007

6. Names in the News: Salam Fayyad, http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=899921&ct=4217777, The Israel Project, 2007

7. PRC Threatens Life of PM Fayad, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185379018232&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull, The Jerusalem Post, 27 July 2007

8. Reformer Rules Out Taking Key Job with Arafat, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article882430.ece, TimesOnline, 19 February 2003

9. Salam Fayyad, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Fayyad.html, Jewish Virtual Library, 2007

10. Salam Fayyad, http://www.who2.com/salamfayyad.html, Who2?, 2007

11. The Invisible Man, Makovsky, David, http://www.aijac.org.au/review/2003/289/am-media.html, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, September, 2003

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