Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
Who is Mohammad Mustafa, the new prime minister of the Palestinian Authority?
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (left) poses with Mohammad Mustafa, the former deputy prime minister and the chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund, after the latter was appointed as new prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, in Ramallah, West Bank, on Thursday.
(
Palestinian Presidency/Anadolu via Getty Images
)
TEL AVIV, Israel — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appointed his longtime economic adviser to be the next prime minister of the Palestinian Authority and has tasked him with forming a new government.
Mohammad Mustafa is taking over the role in a move seen as an attempt to appease U.S. demands for reform so that the Palestinian Authority could govern Gaza in a postwar era.
The development is unlikely to please Palestinians, however, who have long expressed discontent with the Palestinian Authority's leadership, especially as the 88-year-old Abbas remains president.
"Overall, it's pretty meaningless. Because it's not going to change anything, for Palestinians internally or with regard to the relationship between the Palestinian Authority and Israel," said Joel Beinin, the Donald J. McLachlan professor of history and professor of Middle East history, emeritus, at Stanford University.
Support for LAist comes from
Who is Mustafa?
The almost 70-year-old Mustafa has been a senior economic affairs adviser to Abbas since 2005.
He previously served as the national economy minister and the deputy prime minister for the Palestinian Authority. He has been the chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund since 2009.
Mustafa also has ties to the United States. He received a master's degree and a Ph.D. at Washington, D.C.'s George Washington University. He previously worked for the World Bank as well.
Given Mustafa's longtime connection to Abbas, he is widely seen as a loyalist to the president.
"Mohammad Mustafa is a person who has been part of the authority in his capacity as an adviser to Mahmoud Abbas for years. So this is not injecting new blood, not injecting younger blood, because he's 70 years old. It's not gonna fix the reputation of the authority among Palestinians," Beinin said.
The White House's National Security Council said it welcomed the appointment of Mustafa as prime minister, according to spokesperson Adrienne Watson.
Support for LAist comes from
"We urge the formation of a reform cabinet as soon as possible," Watson said in a statement. "The United States will be looking for this new government to deliver on policies and implementation of credible and far-reaching reforms. A reformed Palestinian Authority is essential to delivering results for the Palestinian people and establishing the conditions for stability in both the West Bank and Gaza."
The Palestinian Authority is still deeply unpopular
The Palestinian Authority was created as part of the Oslo Accords, a set of agreements signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1990s.
It was given control over pieces of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority went on to lose control of Gaza to Hamas after fighting in 2007 and now controls only about 40% of the occupied West Bank. The rest of the West Bank is in Israeli hands.
A majority of Palestinians are still not supportive of this governmental body. A recent study from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that nearly 60% of Palestinians want the Palestinian Authority dissolved and that 88% want Abbas to resign.
"People are generally disgusted with the Palestinian Authority. It has very little respectability in the West Bank and even less in the Gaza Strip, among other reasons, because they have done absolutely nothing in response to Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip after Oct. 7. But even long before that, they had lost credibility," Beinin said.
Palestinians spoke to NPR about their discontent with their leadership in the West Bank in late February. Citizens there said the Palestinian Authority needs to make changes to care for its citizens in Palestinian territories — something that they say the government has failed to do, including not even addressing the basic needs of the population.
Support for LAist comes from
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left) and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat shake hands, marking the signing of the peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians, as U.S. President Bill Clinton looks on, in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 13, 1993.
(
Ron Edmonds
/
AP
)
What's next for the new prime minister?
Now-former Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, who announced that he was tendering the resignation of his cabinet last month, has remained on hand to serve as a caretaker to the government.
In his announcement of the appointment, Abbas asked Mustafa to create plans to reunite the administration of the West Bank and Gaza, reform the government and address corruption.
While the White House has expressed support for Mustafa's appointment, Beinin noted it's unlikely to be enough to ever get Israel's current government on board to support a Palestinian Authority-controlled Gaza.
"I'm sorry to say this, but President Biden is delusional in imagining that that can happen under the current Israeli government," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected Palestinian Authority control of Gaza after the war, saying that civilian governance should be given to local leaders.
Support for LAist comes from
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDA1OTI3MjQ5MDEyODUwMTE2MzM1YzNmZA004))
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
-
Hexavalent chromium is the same carcinogen Erin Brockovich warned about in the 1990s, but researchers say more study is needed on the potential health effects of nanoparticles detected earlier this year. Experts will answer questions at a webinar this evening.
Best of LAist