Top Abbas adviser al-Sheikh to lead PLO’s executive committee – report

Senior Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh is set to be appointed secretary-general of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the organization recognized as the representative of Palestinians around the world, according to a report Thursday.

The Ynet news site, citing Palestinian sources in Ramallah, said a formal announcement will be made soon.

There was no immediate confirmation from Palestinian officials.

For decades, Palestinians viewed the Palestine Liberation Organization as the standard-bearer of their national movement. The PLO has become largely devoid of power since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in the mid-1990s, but an appointment to its leadership still carries symbolic weight.

The position has been unmanned since former secretary-general Saeb Erekat died of COVID-19 in November 2020.

A longtime member of the ruling Fatah party and a top adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, al-Sheikh is viewed as one of several contenders to succeed the 86-year-old. His new appointment could put him in a prime position to do so.

One of Abbas’s closest advisers, al-Sheikh has long played a key role in Palestinian politics. In recent years he has taken over various diplomatic duties, often meeting with American and European diplomats and flying to summits in Cairo with Abbas.

Al-Sheikh also enjoys close ties with his Israeli counterparts. Along with intelligence chief Majed Faraj, al-Sheikh attended every meeting between Abbas and senior Israeli officials over the past year.

Al-Sheikh’s Civil Affairs office controls the pipeline of coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

However, he is also seen as a man with little public legitimacy, having never been democratically elected to a senior position. He is also widely seen as tied to rampant corruption in the PA leadership and is disliked by many for his close ties to the unpopular Abbas.

In March, al-Sheikh met with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid. He said he spoke to Lapid of the need for an Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

“I emphasized to him the need for a political horizon based on signed agreements [between Israel and the PA] and international resolutions, as well as the cessation of unilateral measures that impede a two-state solution,” al-Sheikh wrote on Twitter then.

Aaron Boxerman contributed to this report.