Palestinian President Appoints New Prime Minister Amidst Calls For Reform By US

Palestinian president Mohamad Abbas has named prime minister Mohamad Mustafa with a mandate to reform the Palestinian Authority (PA) according to the state news agency WAFA.

This comes after the US had put pressure on the PA to reform.

Mustafa is a US-educated economist from Abbas’s cabinet as it is likely that the president will continue to maintain control through him.

This is not likely to meet the US’s standards nor help the PA become more popular with Palestinians.

The Times of Israel  quoted from a poll that said that 90% of Palestinians in December last year from 1,231 Palestinian respondents in the West Bank saying Abbas must resign. 72% of those respondents said that Hamas was “correct” to launch its Oct 7 operation with 82% in the West Bank and 57% in Gaza backing it.

Mustafa replaces former Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh who resigned in February this year.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had met with Abbas in January this year to ensure where speculation had risen that Washington would want the PA to govern the West Bank and Gaza post the conflict.

It is not just the PA that is likely to upset Washington’s plans for governing Gaza post the operation.

Increasing frustration has also been expressed by the US towards Israel.

Leading Democrat and long-time Israel supporter Chuck Schumer has stated on Thursday that Israel should host new elections and that Prime Minister Netanyahu was an “obstacle to peace.”

Israeli politicians have condemned Schumer’s remarks. Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett wrote on X. “Regardless of our political opinion, we strongly oppose external political intervention in Israel’s internal affairs. We are an independent nation, not a banana republic. With the threat of terrorism on its way to the West, it would be best if the international community would assist Israel in its just war, thereby also protecting their countries.”