The Palestinian leadership found itself between a rock and a hard place over its plan to hold legislative elections next month. The international community was divided. The EU supported the holding of elections, while the Americans and Israel opposed it. Internally, the public favored it, with 85 percent of Palestinians registered to vote. But the Palestinian factions, hoping a more united environment could emerge within a year, supported the delay that was announced on Saturday.
Furthermore, the Central Elections Commission does not control Gaza or East Jerusalem. Israel refused to allow the ballot papers, ballot boxes and ink to enter Gaza. Israel also rejected its own pledge, made in the Oslo Accords, to allow East Jerusalemites to cast absentee votes at six post office boxes. In the West Bank, 1,300 checkpoints and gates make the possibility of holding elections difficult and there was always the danger of Israel arresting candidates on the eve of the vote.
The American position, which might have put pressure on the Israeli government, was one of ambivalence. When an enterprising Palestinian journalist last month asked a US State Department spokesperson whether America supports Palestinian elections, the response avoided the question altogether. Washington has made no statement or even hinted at where it stands on the issue.
The American position, which might have put pressure on the Israeli government, was one of ambivalence
Daoud Kuttab
One area in which the US was clearly not willing to allow elections to take place was Gaza, where Washington has its own weird plans supposedly directed by the Board of Peace. But in reality, any action in Gaza requires Israeli approval. Elections taking place simultaneously in Gaza and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) would have sent a strong signal of the unity of Palestine, a country recognized by more than 160 UN member states but strongly opposed by the US and Israel.
Elections were part of a reform package demanded by the international community, including the US and France, yet the two appear to be on opposite sides. The Palestinian leadership in Ramallah was promised that the US would normalize relations with them if they carried out democratic reforms and held elections that would give Palestinians a voice in their own leadership; this was one of those reforms. It is not clear if the Americans who imposed these conditions, with strong help from Israel, actually expected the Palestinians to meticulously carry them out. When they did, America and Israel balked.
For President Mahmoud Abbas, the problem of legislative elections was closer to home. His own Fatah movement was splintered. A plea from leading Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti, smuggled out via his lawyer, for all Fatah factions to unite failed to have the desired effect. Abbas appeared adamantly opposed to bringing back the Mohammed Dahlan wing, which calls itself the Democratic Reform Bloc. That wing agreed to form a coalition with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad ahead of the elections. Even though the Fatah reformists seemed willing to leave the coalition with Hamas, Abbas and his deputy, Hussein Al-Sheikh, did not trust that it would be a serious break from their arch-enemies.
If the major movements of the Palestinian factions do not participate, the elections will become a sham
Daoud Kuttab
Furthermore, Abbas tried to stop a more intimate opposition from Jibril Rajoub, the secretary of Fatah’s Central Committee, who said that since Palestine runs on a presidential political system, the elections should start with, or be held in parallel with, a presidential vote.
The left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s call, supported by most other factions, for a one-year postponement so the factions could work out their problems seemed the most obvious way out. If the major movements of the Palestinian factions do not participate, the elections will become a sham.
So, the decision was taken to hold presidential and legislative elections on a single day in September 2027. While this seemed the most logical outcome, many Palestinians and France rejected it. Many Palestinians, who have not been able to elect their leaders for more than two decades, felt that this third postponement dealt a big blow to an already unpopular presidency. France was also unhappy with the decision. Both France and Saudi Arabia moved many countries to recognize Palestine based on a commitment to reform by the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah.
Al-Sheikh, the deputy president and secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, suggested on social media that elections could be held sooner if the conditions allowed it. He posted on X: “We reaffirm our commitment to a comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue … and to reach consensus on preparing the necessary conditions for holding general elections in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.”
In the end, the presidential decree issued by Abbas stated that Saturday, Sept. 11, 2027, is the date presidential and legislative elections will be held throughout the Occupied Territories. No one is holding their breath about whether this will indeed happen after the latest disappointment.
Daoud Kuttab is an award-winning Palestinian journalist and former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. He is the author of “State of Palestine Now: Practical and Logical Arguments for the Best Way to Bring Peace to the Middle East.” X: @daoudkuttab