Hussein Al-Sheikh – A Palestinian Official Aspires to Succeed Abbas by Appeasing and Defending the Israeli Occupation

During his internal and external meetings, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was accompanied by a figure who has recently emerged strongly on the scene and caused the extinction of leaders who aspired to succeed him.

Hussein al-Sheikh, 61, who in recent years has become Abbas's number one man, followed by the head of the General Intelligence Service, Majed Faraj.

 

History and Positions

Hussein al-Sheikh was born in 1960 in Ramallah, and he identifies himself on his website as a Palestinian decision-maker and leader known for his affiliation with the largest political party, the National Liberation Movement, Fatah.

Al-Sheikh had chaired the Preparatory Committee for the movement’s seventh general conference (in 2016), and currently he is a member of the Fatah Central Committee, a member of the Palestinian National Dialogue Committee in the reconciliation talks with Hamas, a member of the Palestinian National Council, and a member of the Council Central Liberation Organization.

Since 2007 until now, he has been the head of the General Authority for Civil Affairs, and Chairman of the Higher Civil Coordination Committee, which is the official link with the Israeli occupation government.

Therefore, the Palestinians call him the maestro of security coordination with the occupation, despite his detention in Israeli prisons for 11 years (1978-1989).

After signing the 1993 Oslo peace agreement, he became one of the founders of the political committees in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and between 1994-1997 he worked in the Palestinian security forces at the rank of colonel.

He was also a member of the Unified National Command during the first intifada, and a member of Fatah's Supreme Movement Committee in the West Bank.

He says about himself on his website that he was pursued and wanted by the occupation forces during the second intifada from 2000 to 2005.

In October 2003, press sources reported that the Palestinian security services were pursuing Hussein al-Sheikh, at the time, he was the Secretary of the Reference of Fatah Movement in the West Bank (elected in 1999), based on direct orders from the late President Yasser Arafat.

Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, which reported the news at the time, said that it did not know the truth about the reasons for the deterioration of the relationship between the two parties.

But the prosecution came after the distribution of statements in the West Bank signed by the name of al-Sheikh and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of Fatah attacking leaders in the authority.

At the time, the sources said that the Central Committee of the Fatah movement decided to remove al-Sheikh from his position as the secretary of the Fatah reference and called for his arrest and for his trial on charges of involvement in corruption cases, which the latter denied and indicated that he was at the helm.

 

Activities and Developments

On January 18, 2022, the Fatah Central Committee submitted its recommendations to the Central Council Liberation Organization, to nominate Hussein al-Sheikh to take over the position of the secretariat of the Executive Committee of the organization, to succeed the late Saeb Erekat, who died on November 10, 2021, and his position has remained vacant since then.

On February 8 of the same year, the 141-member Central Council appointed Hussein al-Sheikh to the organization's executive committee, with expectations that he would assume the position of Erekat soon.

This position, if he obtains it, will pave his way towards the presidency of the PLO, in a similar step, the current president, Mahmoud Abbas, has already taken.

Regarding his activities, Hussein Al-Sheikh participated in several regional and international conferences, and official tours with Abbas. The most controversial was their visit by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz at his home on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

In the meeting, which took place on December 29, 2021, Gantz said that he discussed security issues to control stability in the West Bank.

In reference to coordination against Hamas' plans, in contradiction with Sheikh's statements, which talked about discussing opening a political track.

Al-Sheikh traveled to Qatar in September 2021 to request the renewal of a financial loan recently provided by Doha (worth $300 million) to the Authority and is about to expire.

In late 2021, he was able to reach an agreement with the occupation authorities to unify Palestinian families (5,000 people as a down payment) and granting identities to those who left abroad or their parents during the years of the catastrophe and setback, and Israel did not register them in the population registry.

In January 2022, he also attended a meeting that brought together Abbas and the President of the Egyptian regime, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in Sharm El-Sheikh as part of an official visit, on the sidelines of their participation in the work of the World Youth Forum in its fourth edition (held annually).

On January 23, 2022, Sheikh met with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and said that they discussed several political and bilateral issues.

The Hebrew media, including Haaretz, confirmed that “the meeting, which took place at Lapid's home in Tel Aviv, dealt with the difficult economic situation of the Palestinian Authority, and ways to develop and push for joint economic projects to improve conditions.”

 

Constant Controversy

Hussein al-Sheikh is considered a rare case of his presence on the social media among his peers and colleagues in the Fatah movement and officials within the Palestinian Authority, as he raises an ongoing controversy through his Twitter account.

The last of those positions was what he tweeted on February 10, 2022, by saying: “The yellow press, the horns of the obscurantist current, and the agents of the occupation are waging a media war against the authority and Fatah, and their media is buzzing with lies, forgery, treason and blasphemy.”

Al-Sheikh’s tweet came two days after an Israeli special force stormed the al-Makhfieh neighborhood in Nablus through a civilian vehicle and carrying out a shooting attack at a Palestinian vehicle, which resulted in the assassination of three young men, in a crime that provoked great anger towards the authority and accusations of complicity through security coordination.

Al-Sheikh defends security cooperation with "Israel" as a Palestinian national interest to serve the cause and citizens, regardless of the crimes of the occupation.

He also confirmed during an interview in August 2021 that he stands firmly by the security services and supports their performance and behavior, in reference to the suppression of demonstrations in the West Bank.

In June 2020, al-Sheikh announced the authority's adherence to maintaining the security of the Israelis, even if security coordination ceased.

In reference to the fact that suppressing the resistance is one of the authority's literature and functions, and it is not carried out under Israeli pressure.

He also indicated that this decision is strategic, and if information arrives about a Palestinian's intention to attack Israelis, we will arrest him if he is still in the West Bank.

“However, if the attacker is already inside Israel, we will warn it through an intermediary, or we will find a way to stop him,” he added.

 

The Israeli Occupations' Favorite

The Hebrew Zaman Israel website sees in early February 2022, that Hussein al-Sheikh, along with Majed Faraj, control the security forces of the Palestinian Authority and enjoy the confidence of Mahmoud Abbas.

The website indicated that according to the division over the leadership of the authority, al-Sheikh will be the head of the political portfolio and Majed Faraj is responsible for the security file.

It asserts that prominent political figures in "Israel" express their satisfaction with the raising of Hussein al-Sheikh's position at the helm of power.

It indicated that “the official in the Fatah movement and the authority supports strengthening political and security relations with Israel and the war against Hamas, which is trying to control the West Bank.”

Commenting on the successive friendly meetings that al-Sheikh had with Israeli officials recently, the Hebrew newspaper Maariv said that, “Israel likes to make deals with him.”

It added at the end of January 2022: “There are those who like the idea of Hussein al-Sheikh assuming the presidency, based on his close relations with senior officers in the army and Israeli officials.”

The newspaper pointed out that Abbas sought to promote al-Sheikh and grant him the powers to negotiate with "Israel," as a moderate figure who believes in the possibility of achieving results through political means that are better than what can be achieved through violence (resistance).

However, the newspaper ruled out that the Palestinian street would accept the idea of his appointment as head of the authority due to the accumulation of corruption cases, starting with the cancellation of the general elections (May 2021), and through the imposition of sanctions on Gaza controlled by Hamas, which is a decision that Hussein al-Sheikh participated in, because he is hostile to the movement.

The newspaper pointed out that al-Sheikh represents everything that drives the Palestinians to alienate the authority, noting that “the street views him and his colleagues as an arrogant gang, each of them is only concerned with achieving his personal interests and not the interests of the people.”