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With Hope for Unity, Abbas Swears In a New Palestinian Government
(about 5 hours later)
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Declaring that a “black page in history has been turned forever,” President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority swore in a new government on Monday intended to reunite the West Bank and Gaza Strip after seven years of harsh political and social division, though disputes over the cabinet’s composition played out publicly until the last minute.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Declaring that a “black page in history has been turned forever,” President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority swore in a new government on Monday intended to reunite the West Bank and Gaza Strip after seven years of harsh political and social division.
“Today we restore our national unity, restore the unity of institutions,” Mr. Abbas said in a speech broadcast live after the new ministers took their oaths at his headquarters here. “We are all loyal to Palestine. We want to keep its banner hoisted high.”
“Today we restore our national unity,” Mr. Abbas said in a speech after the new ministers took their oaths at his headquarters here. “We are all loyal to Palestine. We want to keep its banner hoisted high.”
The new government grew out of the April pact between the Palestine Liberation Organization — dominated by Mr. Abbas’s secular nationalist Fatah faction — and the militant Islamic Hamas movement that has ruled Gaza since 2007. Its first moments were marred by threats from Hamas leaders Monday morning that they would not support the new government over a disagreement on how to represent Palestinians in Israeli prisons, though they ultimately acquiesced.
The ceremony came six weeks after the Palestine Liberation Organization — dominated by Mr. Abbas’s Fatah faction — and the militant Hamas movement that has ruled Gaza since 2007 signed a pact paving the way for the new government. But the triumphant moment was marred by complaints from Hamas until the ceremony started over the government’s composition. The dispute illustrated the delicate task Mr. Abbas has in balancing internal politics and international diplomacy as he tries to maintain support even though Hamas is deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, Europe and much of the West and has refused to recognize Israel or renounce violence.
The dispute displayed the delicate task Mr. Abbas has in balancing Palestinian politics and international diplomacy as he tries to maintain financial support for the government despite the fact that Hamas is deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, Europe and much of the West. The Palestinians are also bracing for punitive sanctions by Israel, which on Monday announced that it would hold the new government responsible for any attacks from the West Bank or Gaza. It also said it would act “in the international arena against the participation of terrorist organizations in elections.”
The Palestinians are also bracing for punitive sanctions by Israel, which on Monday announced that it would hold the new government responsible for attacks from the West Bank or Gaza, and would work “in the international arena” to block Hamas’s participation in the elections the new government is supposed to hold after six months.
“Today, Abu Mazen said yes to terrorism and no to peace,” the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a statement, using Mr. Abbas’s nickname. “Abu Mazen has forged a pact with Hamas,” he added. “The state of Israel will not conduct diplomatic negotiations with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas, a terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of Israel.”
“Today, Abu Mazen said yes to terrorism and no to peace,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said in a statement, using Mr. Abbas’s nickname. “The state of Israel will not conduct diplomatic negotiations with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas, a terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of Israel.”
The new Palestinian government is made up largely of lawyers, businessmen and academics who are not formally tied to either Fatah or Hamas. They are charged with preparing for overdue elections in six months, and integrating West Bank and Gaza institutions that have been operating independently during the seven-year schism.
Secretary of State John Kerry told Mr. Netanyahu in a telephone call on Monday that Washington would work with the new Palestinian government while continuing to watch it closely, according to a spokeswoman.
It is led by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, a linguist and former university president, who has held the top post in the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority government for the past year. Of the 16 ministers under him, three are women; four are Gaza residents, who were barred by Israel from attending Monday’s swearing-in; and about half served in the previous government, including the two deputy prime ministers.
Dore Gold, a senior adviser to Mr. Netanyahu, said afterward that “Israel is deeply disappointed by the U.S. position.”
The ceremony lasted about 10 minutes, as each minister swore to respect the law and serve the Palestinian people — one, the minister of tourism and archaeology, added, “in full” — before shaking the hands of Mr. Hamdallah and Mr. Abbas.
The Obama administration is already under pressure from Israel’s allies on Capitol Hill over the $440 million the United States has allocated to the Palestinian Authority this year; money that the law bars from going to a government “over which Hamas exercises ‘undue influence.’ ”
Afterward, President Abbas addressed the public, promising that the government would follow his political program in support of a negotiated, two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinian officials said it would recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous agreements with Israel, as required by world powers, principles Hamas continues to reject. Mr. Abbas said in his speech he had received “positive signs” from Washington about the new government and that Israel’s threats against it only “made us stronger and more committed in persisting.”
Representative Nita M. Lowey of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said “funding for this unity government is in jeopardy” because of Hamas’s stance. Representative Ed Royce of California, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the while the new government “hides behind the facade of nonpartisan bureaucrats, it was only born out of support from Hamas,” which “is no partner for peace, nor a legitimate recipient of aid.”
“We will not stand idle for the collective punishment against us and we will use all the means, diplomatic, political means, to respond to it,” Mr. Abbas said. “We are aware that we will face difficulties, but the train of reconciliation has set off, and we will not go back to conflict and schism again.”
Amid the diplomatic tension, there were also troubles on the ground. Around midnight Monday, according to a military spokeswoman, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian gunman who had shot and wounded a border police officer at the same West Bank intersection where a suspected suicide bomber was thwarted recently. .
In Gaza, Ismail Haniya, the leader of the departing Hamas government, said, “Today we are leaving this government after seven years of steadfastness during which we faced political and economic problems.”
The new government, led by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, a linguist and former university president who has held the top post in the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority for the past year, is made up largely of lawyers, businessmen and academics who are not formally tied to either Fatah or Hamas. The 16 ministers in his cabinet include three women and four Gaza residents, who were barred by Israel from traveling to attend Monday’s swearing-in. About half served in the previous government, including the two deputy prime ministers.
“We are leaving our chairs but not our role,” he said, adding that he was standing down “willingly and in response to our national responsibilities.”
The ceremony lasted about 10 minutes, as each minister swore to respect the law and serve the Palestinian people — one, the minister of tourism and archaeology, added, “in full” — before shaking hands with Mr. Hamdallah and Mr. Abbas.
The State Department has said that the United States, which is scheduled to provide $440 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority this year, will monitor the situation closely and judge any government based on its composition, policy and actions. The European Union, which gives substantial aid to the authority, has said it will continue direct financial assistance so long as the new government is technocratic and upholds the international principles.
The last-minute dispute with Hamas concerned the handling of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Under international pressure over payments to prisoners, including those convicted of killing Israelis, Mr. Abbas plans to transfer their affairs from the government to the P.L.O.; when Hamas threatened Monday to withdraw its support for the new government, he agreed to temporarily maintain the ministry. There is also deep division over whether to continue security coordination with Israel.
But Israel says the new government “rests on Hamas” and has called on the international community not to embrace it.
Ismail Haniya, the outgoing Hamas prime minister, said Monday in Gaza: “We showed high flexibility in making this government successful.”
On Monday, hours before the swearing-in, Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s minister of intelligence and strategic affairs, told reporters in Jerusalem that the new government was “illegitimate” and did not live up to the previous signed agreements with Israel.
“The government’s task will not be easy, and we will cooperate with it and embrace it,” he said. “We are leaving the chairs, but not leaving the role.”
One of the fundamental principles of the Oslo peace accords of the 1990s, he said, was that territory handed over to the Palestinians would be demilitarized.
Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006. A year later, it took control of Gaza after a brief but bloody factional war there. It has been suffering politically and economically after a break with Iran over the Syrian civil war and, especially, a crackdown by Egypt’s new military-backed government that has plunged Gaza into economic crisis.
“Currently, however, we estimate that there are between 11,000 and 12,000 missiles and rockets in Gaza, as well as thousands of mortar shells, some antitank and antiaircraft missiles,” Mr. Steinitz said, adding that many of the weapons were smuggled into Gaza from Iran.
Analysts said that the new government’s dominance by West Bankers and inclusion of several people close to Mr. Abbas showed Hamas’s weakness, but that many of the toughest tasks in reuniting the territories remain ahead.
Earlier Monday, the Israeli air force struck what the military described as “two terror sites” in the Gaza Strip after two rocket attacks against Israel in the last two days. No injuries were reported on either side.
“There is a lot of anger among Hamas and its constituency," said Mkhaimer Abusaada, a political scientist at Al Azhar University in Gaza. "They feel they have been neglected by Abu Mazen and Abu Mazen is humiliating them. We are going to see many, many problems on the way."
Ahmad Majdalani, a member of the P.L.O.'s executive committee, said Monday that Israel was sparing no attempt “to incite against the government” and to turn the international community against it. “We believe that ending the division will support the peace process,” he told the official Voice of Palestine radio.
But Shimrit Meir, the Israeli editor of an Arabic news website called The Source, said it was "a day of victory for Hamas” as well as Mr. Abbas.
Khalil Shikaki, a prominent Palestinian political analyst and pollster based in Ramallah, said Hamas had shown a surprising amount of flexibility in its demands regarding the government.
“They got rid of the responsibility to feed the Gazans, which they cannot do anymore,” she said of Hamas. “They managed to reinvent themselves and buy more time.”
“The reconciliation process is moving on and Hamas seems to be making greater concessions on this than Fatah,” he said by telephone. That, he said, was an indication of Hamas’s weakness. But Mr. Shikaki added that Hamas was also getting important benefits, including holding on to its security forces in Gaza, while one of the advantages of the deal for Mr. Abbas was that “he now can claim that he speaks for both the West Bank and Gaza.”
Despite the deep yearnings for reconciliation among the Palestinian public, there were no celebrations Monday on the streets of Gaza or Ramallah, where about 100 people instead gathered in Manara Square to protest the notion of ending the prisoners’ ministry. Instead, skepticism and a sour mood seemed to prevail.
Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006. A year later it took control of Gaza after a brief but bloody factional war there, routing Mr. Abbas’s forces and confining his authority to parts of the West Bank. The schism has been highly unpopular among the Palestinian public, though the latest unity deal brings uncertainty with it.
“Same thing, just different faces,” scoffed a 47-year-old shawarma seller in Ramallah who gave his name only as Ibrahim.
“Before this reconciliation it was a black-and-white situation,” said Abdel Hadi Tulayb, 52, a taxi driver in Ramallah. “Fatah is good and Hamas is bad, or vice versa. Now, we are united, but we don’t know what will happen later.”
Abdel Hadi Tulayb, a taxi driver, reflected the uncertainty shared by many of his neighbors. “Before this reconciliation it was a black-and-white situation,” he said. "Fatah is good and Hamas is bad, or vice versa. Now, we are united, but we don’t know what will happen later.”
Many Palestinians expressed hope that the deal would improve their economic situation, though others said they were skeptical.
In Gaza, Rabab Hassouna, who is 25 and unemployed, said he was happy about reconciliation but could not watch the swearing-in on television because there was no electricity.
“I don’t expect any positive results from this government,” said Shadi Hani, 29, a construction worker in Ramallah. “We want to work in Israel and we are like beggars. I cannot go to Israel to work — I need a permit.”
President Abbas vowed in his speech to use all diplomatic and political means to respond to any forthcoming Israeli sanctions.
Previous attempts at national unity have fizzled even before they reached the stage of forming a government, and on Monday, there were already signs of deep discord.
“We are aware that we will face difficulties,” he said. “But the train of reconciliation has set off, and we will not go back to conflict and schism again.”
The sides are divided over the issues of government representation for Palestinians who are held in Israeli jails and whether the Palestinian Authority’s security coordination with Israel should continue.
Mr. Abbas has made it clear that he wants to maintain the security coordination. But Fathi Hammad, the outgoing interior minister of the former Hamas government in Gaza, called on the authority at his farewell party at a Gaza hotel to cut off the coordination with Israel “irreversibly.”
Kobi Michael, a former head of the Palestinian desk at the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs and now a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, said he expected the security coordination would continue at the same level because “it is a core strategic interest of both sides.”
The Palestinian Authority, he wrote in an email, still “needs protection from Hamas, which remains a political and military threat.”
Mkhaimer Abusaada, a political scientist at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, said that Hamas and its constituency were unhappy with Mr. Abbas’s conduct in forming the government.
“Hamas has given up on many, many issues,” he said in a telephone interview. “They feel that they have been neglected by Abu Mazen and that Abu Mazen is humiliating them through this formation of this government.”
