RAMALLAH — Newly installed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa announced a package of reforms on Tuesday aimed at strengthening the Palestinian Authority amid increased global pressure for a revival of political dialogue with Israel.
Mustafa, appointed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier this year, said his government would introduce measures to improve transparency and fight corruption, overhaul the justice system and security sectors and improve public sector efficiency.
In addition, he said the health and education system would be improved, public finances strengthened and economic reforms implemented.
The reform pledges largely match promises previously made by his predecessor Mohammed Shtayyeh, who announced his resignation in February as the PA looked to build support for an expanded role amid Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
The United States and other international partners have pressed the PA to implement sweeping reforms to restore confidence among Palestinians who have become deeply disillusioned with the body set up under the interim Oslo Peace Accords more than 30 years ago.
“A revitalized PA is essential to delivering results for the Palestinian people in both the West Bank and Gaza and establishing the conditions for stability in the broader region,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said when the move was announced at the end of March.
In addition to the new cabinet, the PA was in the final stages of talks with the Biden administration about reforming its controversial welfare policy, which included payments to terrorists and their families, two sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel.
The urgency to make reforms has increased as attention has turned towards the governance of Gaza, once Israel completes its military campaign against Hamas following the October 7 massacre in southern Israel where 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking over 250 hostages.
Despite resistance from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Washington and its allies say the PA must be involved in administering the enclave once Israeli troops pull out.
Netanyahu has thus far rejected efforts to include the PA in post-war planning, arguing that the more moderate foil to Hamas, which publicly backs a two-state solution, is actually no different than the Gaza-ruling terror group.
However, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and others in the security establishment have argued that the PA represents Israel’s least bad option for who can manage Gaza after the war, the alternatives being Hamas or a state of anarchy, according to an Israeli official.
The defense minister argued the least bad option would be having local Palestinians govern the Strip. But because this body won’t be Hamas, it means that “once in a while it will look at what is being said in Ramallah,” he was quoted as saying in Hebrew reports last month, referring to the PA’s seat of government in the West Bank.
The United States and most Western countries say only a two-state solution, entailing an independent Palestinian state next to Israel, can offer the chance of a peaceful resolution to decades of conflict.
However, Abbas reacted angrily last week when Washington vetoed a Palestinian request for full United Nations membership, saying the PA would reconsider bilateral ties with the United States following the decision.
Abbas’s threat to the US, which he had previously made during President Joe Biden’s tenure without following through, was published in Arabic by the PA’s Wafa news agency but wasn’t included in an English translation.
“While the world agrees on the application of international law and stands by the Palestinian right, America continues to support the occupation, refusing to compel Israel to stop its genocidal war,” Abbas was quoted as saying. “It provides Israel with weapons and funds that kill our children and destroy our homes, and it stands against us in international forums, in positions that do not serve security and stability in the region.
The PA has been grappling with a severe financial crisis which has left most public sector employees receiving only part of their normal salary for the past two years.
The crisis has worsened since the start of the Israel-Hamas war as Israel has cut off some of the tax revenues it collects on the PA’s behalf, accusing the Authority of supporting Hamas.