Fifth, Abbas was hoping that by blaming Israel for the economic woes of the Palestinians, he would be able to divert attention from his failure to produce any significant achievement for his people ever since he came to power in 2005.
The 77-year-old Abbas is about to enter his eighth year of his four-year term in office and has shown no sign that he is willing to step down and pave the way for the emergence of new leaders.
The recent protests in the West Bank over the economic hardships do not signal the beginning of a “Palestinian Spring.” Rather, they are seen by many Palestinians in the context of the ongoing behind-the-scenes power struggle between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
Originally published by the Gatestone Institute.
