Abbas pointed an heir in an attempt to reassure the US and the bay

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has appointed close confidant Hussein Ash Sheik as his deputy and likely successor on Saturday, the Palestine Liberation Organization (OOP) reported. The step is considered necessary to calm the international doubts about the Palestinian leadership.

Abbas, 89, led the PLO and the Palestinian Power (PA) since the death of longtime leader Yasser Arafat in 2004, but for years he resisted against internal reforms, including the appointment of an heir.

Sheikh, born in 1960, has a lot of experience in Fatah, the main faction of APP founded by Arafat and now headed by Abbas. It is perceived as a pragmatist with very close ties with Israel. Was appointed Vice President of the PLO after the Executive Committee of the Organization approved his nomination from ABBAS, according to a statement by the PLO.

The reform of the Palestinian power, which exercises limited autonomy in the West Beach occupied by Israel, is a priority for the United States and the Gulf monarchies. They hope the organ can play a central role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The pressure for reforms has intensified since the beginning of the Gaza war, where the main Palestinian rival of the PLO, Hamas, has been fighting with Israel for over 18 months, and the conflict has left the small, crowded territory in ruins.

The United States encouraged the idea of ​​reformed Palestinian power governing the gas after the war. The Gulf monarchies, which are considered as the most likely source of funding for gas recovery after the war, also want major organ reforms.

Call to disarm Hamas

Israel’s announced goal in Gaza is the destruction of Hamas, but it also excludes the possibility of giving the Palestinian power any role in government there. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached for opposing the creation of a Palestinian state.

Hamas, which professes an arrogant Islamist ideology, has controlled Gaza since 2007, when he defeated the Palestinian power in a short civil war after winning the election the previous year. The organization also has a great presence on the west coast.

At a meeting of the Central Council of the PLO on Wednesday and Thursday, which approved the position of the Vice President, without determining who to appoint, Abbas made his clearest appeal to Hamas to completely disarm and convey his weapons – and the responsibility for Gaza’s government – to the Palestinian power.

The widespread corruption, the lack of progress to an independent state, and the frequent Israeli military invasions on the west coast undermined the popularity of the Palestinian power among many Palestinians.

The organization has been controlled by Fatah since its establishment under the Oslo agreements with Israel in 1993 and last held a 2005 parliamentary election.

Sheikh, who was imprisoned by Israel for his activity against the occupation in the period 1978-89, worked as a major contact of the Palestinian power with the Israeli government under the rule of ABBAS and was his envoy on visits to world forces.