A sick man who resists being voted out of office: Palestinian President Abbas has little respect among his own people. But after the scandal in Berlin, his party mobilized a solidarity demonstration, which welcomed him when he returned to Ramallah.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been unpopular with his own people for years. With his statements about the Holocaust in Berlin, the 86-year-old may have maneuvered himself further into the sidelines internationally. In the presence of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Abbas accused Israel of “50 holocausts” against the Palestinians – and thus also got his host into trouble. The Palestinian President then backtracked, affirming that the Holocaust was “the most heinous crime in modern human history.” But the political damage remains.
Abbas actually wanted to campaign for more international support for the Palestinian issue in Berlin. Because the Palestinians feel increasingly marginalized from the international agenda, once again since the start of the Ukraine war. From their point of view, many also complain that there is a lack of political support from Germany. Abbas’ words, however, did the opposite. German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit has already made it clear that the incident will overshadow the personal relationship between Scholz and Abbas. A trip by the Chancellor to Ramallah is “difficult to imagine” in the foreseeable future. However, the government will remain in contact with the Palestinians.
The Palestinians could not afford to break off relations either. According to the Development Ministry, Germany is one of the largest donors. The Federal Republic has therefore pledged more than 1.2 billion euros for bilateral development cooperation. Last year alone, 150 million euros went to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). And Abbas’s statements also caused outrage among the Palestinians’ largest donor. They are “unacceptable,” wrote EU Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas on Twitter.
However, it is doubtful whether his scandal has harmed him in his own ranks. On his return to Ramallah, he was greeted by hundreds of his supporters in a show of solidarity. His Fatah party had previously called for it. The Palestinian political scientist Ghassan Chatib also sees no direct impact on his reputation. “His popularity has already taken a hit, for a variety of reasons, including the failure of the peace process he supported with Israel, corruption, restrictions on freedom and the failure to hold elections,” he said.
The 86-year-old has ruled in an authoritarian manner and without democratic legitimacy for years: He was elected in 2005 for a four-year term and has not been confirmed in office since then. He canceled a new election planned last year. Officially, he cited a dispute with Israel over East Jerusalem as the reason. However, some observers took this as an excuse. They suspected Abbas’ and those around him to be concerned about a possible defeat because of the deep divisions in the Fatah movement and the great popularity of the Islamist Hamas.
Abbas’ ratings in opinion polls have been very poor for a long time. According to a survey, more than three quarters of those questioned were in favor of the resignation of the Palestinian President, who was in poor health. However, for a long time he was a welcome guest on international stages. There, his role in the Middle East peace process and his commitment to a two-state solution with Israel were in the foreground. However, the peace process has been idle since 2014. There is also concern that after an era of Abbas, Hamas could also seize power in the West Bank. So far, it only controls the Gaza Strip. It is also unclear whether a successor to Abbas would continue his security cooperation with Israel. Abbas has repeatedly spoken out in favor of non-violence. However, right-wing Israelis in particular regularly accuse him of supporting terrorism against their country.
However, the Israeli government under Naftali Bennett and now Jair Lapid had tried to improve contact with Abbas. In particular, Secretary of Defense Benny Gantz has met with him several times since December to promote confidence-building measures. Then in July Prime Minister Lapid phoned Abbas. It was the first direct conversation between Abbas and an Israeli prime minister in years. But now his latest statements are shaking the newly established relationships. In just a few months, Israel will elect a new parliament. The right-wing conservative party of ex-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already highlighted the danger of “compulsive” cooperation with a “Holocaust denier” on Twitter and stressed that it does not want to become dependent on Abbas supporters. Netanyahu, Lapid’s and Gantz’s biggest competitor, could play into the hands of the Abbas scandal in the November 1 election.
