Recently Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, which rules parts of the West Bank, and Hamas, which rules Gaza, have declared plans to set aside their differences and hold elections for a new Palestinian Authority (PA) government to preside over both territories together. These would be the first Palestinian elections in fifteen years. Calling this promise the two rival parties’ “hoariest, least convincing talking point,” Hussein Ibish predicts that it will come to naught:
Neither Fatah nor Hamas has demonstrated any real interest in healing the fractured Palestinian body politic. Over the past decade, each has become well-entrenched in their own fiefdom, where it rules and consumes resources without effective opposition.
In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority receives tens of millions of dollars in annual aid from the international community. (This, even after President Donald Trump ended American aid to Palestinians last year.) Although the PA stopped all dealings with Israel to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans for annexation of large swathes of the West Bank, it can still lay claim to the taxes Israel collects on Palestinian imports and exports. With annexation off the table at least through 2024, the PA will find a way to resume dialogue and once again get the tax revenues.
Both sets of leaders can live with the current arrangements, despite the hardships they impose on the Palestinian population. If the Palestinian parties keep talking up the idea of national reconciliation, it is because, no matter how cynical and unconvincing, these performances are useful. The Palestinian public and their supporters around the world want unity, and promises of unity relieves some of the pressure on both parties. They also help to satisfy donors and the international community. For Fatah and Hamas, these promises are a substitute for having no governing policy at all.
Read more on Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-10-01/why-palestinian-unity-between-hamas-and-fatah-is-a-pipe-dream