Washington would not oppose a Palestinian Authority decision to postpone the legislative elections set for next month, an unnamed American source told the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds on Friday, adding that the potential boost of Hamas power could put an end to the prospects for a solution. two states.
The newspaper said that the voices in the PA calling for the postponement of the May 22 elections are increasing.
The anonymous “informed” source told the media: “Certainly, the United States supports and encourages free, fair, transparent and regular elections wherever possible.”
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But he was also aware of the various challenges facing Palestinians, including the coronavirus pandemic, economic problems and the duality of governance between the PA-dominated West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which is led by the terrorist group Hamas.
Former Fatah official Nasser al-Kidwa, center-left, and Marwan Barghouti’s wife, Fadwa, center-right, are leaving the office of the Palestinian Central Election Commission after registering their joint list for the upcoming May parliamentary elections in the West Bank city of Ramallah. , March 31, 2021. (AP / Nasser Nasser)
He said he believed the Biden administration “would consider understanding the possibility of postponing the elections for a while”.
Referring to Hamas, which is running in the elections, the source warned that “the rise of Palestinian forces that reject the two-state solution, reject the abandonment of violence and refuse to stop anti-Israel and US rhetoric or abandon incitement – raising such forces decision-making will complicate, or even completely dispel, the prospects for a two-state solution. ”
He added that “all indications are that the multiple divisions within Fatah and the quasi-tribal conflict between the various factions in Fatah will reduce its ability to mobilize the Palestinians in a way that allows them to defeat Hamas.”
On Monday, Fatah and other Palestinian Liberation Organization factions said there would be no Palestinian elections without the participation of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, which some observers believed was an effort to lay the groundwork for the cancellation of the election.
Palestinians have not held national legislative elections for more than 15 years.
Israel is fighting the Palestinian Authority’s work in Jerusalem, saying it is a violation of Israeli sovereignty in its capital.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah on September 3, 2020. (Flash90)
The Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the PLO set out the specific procedures by which the Palestinian elections are to take place, including provisions committing Israel to allow Palestinians in East Jerusalem to vote at post offices in the capital.
The agreements also state that every Palestinian faction in the elections must accept the legitimacy of Oslo, which commits the Palestinians to recognizing Israel and abandoning the armed struggle. Some of the factions that have announced they will participate in the next legislative vote – including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the PFLP – reject the Oslo agreements.
Palestinian officials say Israel has not yet responded to a formal request to allow Palestinians to vote in East Jerusalem. It is unlikely that the Israeli authorities will allow voting inside the city or the campaigns of Palestinian candidates, especially the terrorist group Hamas.
Currently, about 93% of Palestinians are registered to vote and 36 parliamentary lists have been presented and approved.
But Abbas’s Fatah movement has become increasingly fractured in recent weeks, with Palestinian security prisoner Marwan Barghouti and the nephew of former PLO president Yasser Arafat Nasser al-Kidwa forming a rival list of candidates against Abbas.
There has been widespread speculation that Abbas – fearing a possible loss to his Fatah rivals or a Hamas backed by Fatah’s internal divisions – will seek to delay or even cancel the vote.
Hamas officials have warned Abbas not to use Jerusalem or any other excuse to delay or cancel the current vote this time.
“We refuse to postpone the elections on any pretext,” senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouq wrote on Twitter.
Aaron Boxerman contributed to this report.
