Why Mahmoud Abbas at Last Appointed a Successor

On November 27, the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, who recently turned eighty-nine, at last appointed someone to replace him should he die or become incapacitated: Rawhi Fattouh, currently chairman of the Palestinian National Council (PNC). To understand the significance of this decision, it’s necessary to understand the three overlapping organizations of Palestinian self-government in the West Bank. First there is Fatah, a terrorist group founded by Yasir Arafat and now led by Abbas. Fatah is the dominant faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), governed by the PNC. Lastly there is the Palestinian Authority (PA), established by the Oslo Accords as a successor to the PLO and ruled by Fatah.