Mahmoud Abbas

Mahmoud Abbas was born in 1935 in Safed, then part of Mandatory Palestine.[1][3] During Israel's War of Independence, after Jewish forces captured Safed in May 1948, its Arab population fled and Abbas's family ultimately took refuge in Damascus, Syria.[3] Abbas later explained that residents feared Jewish retaliation for the 1929 massacre of Jews in Safed and that this fear caused people to leave in a disorderly manner.[6]

Abbas studied in Syria and Egypt and earned a law degree from Damascus University.[1][3] He subsequently completed a doctorate in history in Moscow in 1982; sources variously identify the institution as the Oriental College, the Oriental Institute, or Patrice Lumumba University.[1][3] His dissertation was titled "The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism."[1] The Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs characterizes the work as Holocaust denial, while the Jewish Virtual Library records that Abbas claimed the Nazis killed only "a few hundred thousand Jews," rather than six million.[6][1]

Abbas became involved in Palestinian nationalist politics through the General Union of Palestinian Students.[3] In 1957, he moved to Qatar to work in its education department, where he continued his political activity and helped found Fatah with Yasser Arafat and others.[3] He joined Fatah's Central Committee in the 1960s and the Palestinian National Council in 1968. In 1980, he joined the PLO Executive Committee; he headed the PLO's National and International Relations Department from 1984 to 2000 and became secretary general of the Executive Committee in 1996.[3]

During the 1970s, Abbas participated in contacts with Israeli peace activists. In January 1977, he and Israeli general Mattityahu Peled signed a document titled "Principles of Peace" that supported a two-state solution.[3] Abbas later became the senior PLO official responsible for negotiations with Israel, beginning with the October 1991 Madrid Peace Talks.[3]

The PLO and the Palestinian Authority are institutionally distinct: the PA exercises limited self-rule in designated areas, while the PLO represents Palestinians in negotiations and international affairs.[7] Since his election as PA president in 2005, Abbas has held that office alongside his positions as PLO chairman and a leader of Fatah.[1][2]

Abbas directed the secret PLO-Israeli negotiations conducted in Oslo, Norway, which produced an agreement in August 1993.[3] On September 13, 1993, the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements was signed publicly at the White House. Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shook hands on the South Lawn while Abbas signed for the PLO and Shimon Peres signed for Israel.[3][4] The agreement provided for recognition of the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people, the PLO's renunciation of terrorism and recognition of Israel's right to exist, creation of the Palestinian Authority, and eventual Israeli withdrawal from parts of the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — and the Gaza Strip.[4] Jerusalem, refugees, final borders, and Israeli settlements were left for permanent-status negotiations, and the PA was intended as an interim governing structure pending a final agreement.[5][4]

At the White House ceremony, Abbas was introduced simply as "Mr. Abbas" of the PLO. He was also the only one of the four Israeli and Palestinian figures sharing the podium who did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize the following year.[3] His direction of the secret talks made him one of the central Palestinian architects of the Oslo process.[3]

After returning to the Palestinian territories in 1995 following decades in exile, Abbas helped direct Palestinian negotiators in talks that produced the September 1995 Interim Agreement known as Oslo II.[3] That year, he and Israeli politician Yossi Beilin drafted the Framework for the Conclusion of a Final Status Agreement Between Israel and the PLO, commonly called the Abu Mazen-Beilin Plan. It contemplated a two-state solution, a special arrangement allowing Jerusalem to function as the capital of both Israel and Palestine, and resolution of the refugee issue through limited return to Israel, compensation, and resettlement elsewhere.[7] The plan's existence was denied for five years before its publication in 2000.[1]

Abbas headed the Palestinian Authority's Central Elections Commission from 1996 to 2002, coordinated the first direct Palestinian elections in January 1996, and was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council from Qalqilya.[3] At the November 2007 Annapolis conference, he participated as both PA president and PLO Executive Committee chairman. The joint understanding adopted on November 27 committed the parties to pursue two states living side by side in peace and security, implement the Quartet's Roadmap, and establish a U.S.-led monitoring mechanism, although the process produced no completed peace agreement.[8]

Abbas was named the first prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in March 2003 and assumed the position at the end of April.[1][3] The office was created amid international criticism of Yasser Arafat's governance and his unwillingness to direct PA security forces against terrorist groups attacking Israelis.[3] Abbas was not granted full authority: Arafat retained ultimate decision-making power and control over the security services.[1][3] Abbas appointed Muhammad Dahlan as minister of state for Security Affairs in an effort to assert authority over the security apparatus, but Arafat countered by appointing Dahlan's rival as national security adviser.[3]

The arrangement proved unworkable. Abbas resigned on September 6, 2003, after approximately four months in office, amid conflict with Arafat over the security services, internal Fatah tensions, pressure to confront Hamas, and disputes surrounding negotiations with Israel.[1][3]

Following Yasser Arafat's death in November 2004, Abbas was appointed chairman of the PLO Executive Committee and assumed a leading position in Fatah.[3][7] He was elected president of the Palestinian Authority on January 9, 2005. The Jewish Virtual Library and Encyclopedia.com report that he received 62 percent of the vote.[1][3] A Jerusalem Post retrospective reported approximately 67 percent and noted that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad boycotted the election.[9] Abbas's presidential term was intended to last four years and expired in 2009.[9][2]

With his election, Abbas held overlapping positions as PLO chairman, PA president, and a leader of Fatah.[7][2] At the time, he was widely seen as more moderate than Arafat and as a possible partner for renewed peace talks with Israel.[9]

Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006 gave Hamas 74 of the council's 132 seats, compared with 45 for Fatah.[5] The resulting power-sharing arrangement proved unstable, and conflict between the two movements escalated during the following year.[3][5]

In June 2007, Abbas declared a state of emergency, dissolved the unity government, and appointed Salam Fayyad as prime minister in place of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.[3] Hamas then seized control of Gaza in a violent takeover, expelling Fatah forces from the territory.[3][5] Since then, Abbas has led the Fatah-dominated PA government based in the West Bank while Hamas has exercised de facto control over Gaza. The Anti-Defamation League describes the two as bitter rivals and says repeated reconciliation agreements have had little impact and have been short-lived.[5]

The Palestinian Legislative Council has not functioned since 2007, and Abbas has often governed through presidential decrees in the absence of a legislature.[2] The U.S. State Department reported that no national elections for the PA presidency or legislative council had been held in the West Bank and Gaza since 2006.[2] Elections announced for 2021 were indefinitely postponed. Abbas attributed the postponement to Israel's refusal to permit Palestinians in East Jerusalem to vote, while other observers attributed it to concern about growing Hamas support.[9]

As the bilateral negotiating track with Israel deteriorated, Abbas pursued international recognition through multilateral forums and United Nations bodies. The UN General Assembly recognized Palestine as a non-member observer state in 2012.[10] At the September 2017 UN General Assembly, Abbas called for recognition of the State of Palestine and approval of its application for full UN membership, arguing that recognition could enhance the prospects for peace.[10] In an Egyptian television interview, he said: "I am optimistic that the time will come in which we get an independent Palestinian state, but not any time soon," and described state-building through international recognition as proceeding "brick by brick."[10]

In a September 2015 address to the United Nations General Assembly, Abbas declared that the Palestinian Authority was no longer bound by the Oslo Accords or subsequent agreements between the PA and Israel.[1] On May 19, 2020, he announced that he, the PLO, and the State of Palestine were absolved of agreements and understandings with Israel and the United States, including security commitments. The declaration was connected to his opposition to a proposed Israeli application of law to parts of the West Bank.[11]

The American Jewish Committee argues that Abbas rejected two-state proposals, including what it characterizes as a groundbreaking offer from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in 2008, and that he walked away from the last round of direct talks, which ended in 2014, before refusing to return to direct negotiations or meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[10] A 2023 American Jewish Archives Journal review likewise described Olmert's proposed terms as "extremely generous" and reported that Abbas refused to sign a map as formal acknowledgment of acceptance.[12] The review also presents Abbas's refusal to recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people as a significant point of contention, while treating responsibility for failed negotiations as disputed.[12]

A Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs account of Abbas's January 2018 speech reports that he called for an independent Palestinian state within the lines of June 4, 1967, with eastern Jerusalem as its capital, while invoking the Palestinian interpretation of UN General Assembly Resolution 194 regarding a right of return. He rejected exclusive American sponsorship, called for an international conference or group-of-states framework, and urged the PLO Central Council to reassess agreements signed with Israel.[13]

In November 2024, Abbas issued a declaration providing that Rawhi Fattouh — president of the Palestinian National Council and a former interim PA leader following Arafat's death — would temporarily replace him if the presidency became vacant, pending elections under Palestinian election law.[14] Fattouh would serve for 90 days, with the possibility of one extension for a similar duration if elections were not held.[15] Abbas said the measure was intended "to maintain stability" while the Palestinian Authority was "facing many challenges."[14] Some observers criticized the arrangement as unconstitutional.[15]

In a video address to a United Nations conference on September 22, 2025, Abbas said the Palestinian Authority should assume responsibility for governance and security in Gaza through a temporary administrative committee linked to the PA government in the West Bank.[16] He declared: "Hamas will have no role in governance, and it, along with other factions, must hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority."[16] In separate UN General Assembly remarks on September 25, he condemned Hamas's killing and kidnapping of Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, stating: "Despite all that our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on October 7th — acts that targeted Israeli civilians and took them as hostages — because such actions do not represent the Palestinian people nor their just struggle for freedom and independence."[17]

The September 22 speech outlined what Abbas called a "comprehensive reform agenda" covering governance, transparency, the rule of law, financial-system reform, school curricula, and a unified social-welfare system.[16] He said the PA had canceled previous payments to families of prisoners and martyrs and placed the replacement system under international audit. He also promised presidential and parliamentary elections within one year after the end of the Gaza war.[16]

In June 2026, Abbas issued a decree announcing that presidential elections would be held in 2027, without specifying a date, and that elections for the Palestinian National Council would be held in November 2026.[18] The decree increased the Palestinian Legislative Council to 200 seats, lowered the electoral threshold to one percent, and required one woman for every three candidates on an electoral list.[18]

By 2026, Abbas had served as PA president for more than 21 years despite his original four-year term.[1][2] A U.S. State Department report noted his public commitment to nonviolence and a two-state solution but disputed the effectiveness of his February 2025 compensation reform. The report said payments continued through both the former framework and the new Tamkeen program and cited Israeli figures of 395 million shekels paid to Palestinian terrorists and 92 million shekels to their families in 2025.[17]

Several aspects of Abbas's record have drawn significant criticism from Israeli officials, Jewish organizations, and Western governments.

Holocaust-Related Statements. Abbas's dissertation concerned alleged ties between Zionists and Nazis. The Jewish Virtual Library records that he claimed the Nazis killed only "a few hundred thousand Jews," while the Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs characterizes the dissertation as Holocaust denial.[1][6] In an April 30, 2018, speech to the Palestinian National Council, Abbas argued that the Holocaust resulted not from antisemitism but from the alleged social behavior of Jews, including lending and banking.[19] Yad Vashem condemned the remarks as antisemitic and historically distorted, saying they blamed Jewish victims for their own murder, transformed Hitler into a Zionist, and relied on a centuries-old association of Jews with monetary greed. It also stated that the transfer agreement between the Jewish Agency and German authorities did not constitute Nazi support for Zionism.[19]

The remarks drew condemnation from Israeli officials, the European Union, Germany, and others. Abbas subsequently said: "If people were offended by my statement in front of the [Palestinian National Council], especially people of the Jewish faith, I apologize to them." He condemned antisemitism and called the Holocaust "the most heinous crime in history."[20] In 2023, the American Jewish Committee reported that Abbas again made remarks it characterized as antisemitic, including a defense of Hitler's motivation for murdering six million Jews and a claim that Jews were responsible for turmoil in the Middle East.[21]

Praise for Terrorist Figures. At a January 2013 Fatah anniversary celebration, Abbas praised Hajj Muhammad Amin al-Husseini — the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who collaborated with Nazi Germany — as a "martyr" and a "pioneer."[22] The same academic article reports that Abbas also praised Hamas founders Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and Abd al-Aziz Rantisi and Islamic Jihad founder Fathi Shikaki as "our fortunate martyrs." It further reports that, when asked in March 2012 how Hamas and Fatah could reconcile if one did not change its ideology, Abbas answered that the movements had no ideological differences.[22]

Payments to Terrorism-Related Prisoners and Families. In his January 2018 address to the PLO Central Council, Abbas defended monthly stipends paid to families of killed attackers and imprisoned Palestinians, stating: "We steadfastly refuse to stop these payments, and we will not allow anyone to infringe on the payments to the families of the martyrs, the wounded, and the prisoners. They are our sons, and we will keep paying them money."[13] A Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs account states that the PA adopted Law No. 19 of 2004 concerning prisoners, that Abbas approved regulations in 2006 codifying monthly salaries, and that in 2010 he drove an increase from 4,000 to 12,000 shekels per month for prisoners serving more than 30 years.[6] Israel and the United States characterized the payments as supporting or incentivizing terrorism. Although Abbas announced a reform in February 2025, the U.S. State Department reported that payments continued through both the former framework and the Tamkeen program.[17]

Legitimacy and Democratic Deficit. Abbas's four-year presidential mandate expired in 2009, but he remained in office without another national presidential election.[2] The Palestinian Legislative Council ceased functioning in 2007, leaving him to govern largely by decree.[2] A 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that 85 percent of Israelis held an unfavorable view of Abbas, including at least nine-in-ten Israeli Jews and nearly seven-in-ten Israeli Arabs.[23] Surveys cited by the Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs found that 85 percent of Palestinians were dissatisfied with Abbas's performance, 88 percent wanted him to resign, and 87 percent believed PA institutions were characterized by corruption and nepotism.[6]