By Eitan Dangot
In recent weeks, PA President Mahmoud Abbas has taken several significant decisions aimed at returning to the negotiating table with Israel with a tailwind of support from the incoming U.S. Administration.
The PA's objective is to return to the position it held before the Obama administration left office in 2016, while adjusting to the fact that they must adapt to the dramatic developments that have altered the Middle Eastern landscape in recent months, the most significant of which is the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel and the Gulf states.
Abbas understands that a marginalized PA will endanger the continuation of his rule in the West Bank and threaten the entire legacy he wishes to leave behind.
The PA has been battered by the significant blows it absorbed during the Trump years. The outgoing U.S. president discarded all previous conventions and initiated a process that shattered the status quo, shaking the pillars on which the PA was founded.
The Abraham Accords, under American sponsorship, dealt the most significant blow to the PA to date, by leading the Sunni Arab world to differentiate between its relations with Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, thus enabling normalization to begin.
The U.S. recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and there was no American call to evacuate any settlements as part of Trump’s proposed Deal of the Century.
Added into the mix of challenges are the coronavirus pandemic, and the PA's governability problems, made worse by its decision to stop receiving tax transfers for several months, creating a budgetary crisis, hitting government salaries hard.
Ending security and civilian coordination with Israel created an additional challenge, as did the alienation to the PA's rule felt by some Palestinians themselves, who reject the PA's corruption.
The straw that broke the camel's back was a series of accusations against the PA by a Saudi official, who represented the view of the Saudi royal family, accusing the PA and its leaders of being inept, corrupt, and harmful to regional interests.
Abbas was forced to recalculate. He seized upon the election of Joe Biden as an opportunity to position himself as a positive actor. In addition, Abbas has begun to accept the normalization accords with Gulf states, and has stopped criticizing them in public. Abbas understood that should he fail to take these steps, the PA could well collapse.
He has green lighted a rapid resumption of coordination with Israel, while recoiling from Hamas, and cancelling 'reconciliation' talks with the group.
Abbas is adjusting to the new reality, and has demonstrated an ability to read the map correctly. As the 85-year-old PA President surely nears the end of his long term, he is taking steps such as the resumption of the receipt of tax funds from Israel in order to salvage his legacy.
By doing so, Abbas has stabilized his rule and created a new opening for a dialogue that he will manage with the Biden administration, while working to close the wide gap that exists between the PA and Saudi Arabia, a powerful Sunni lead actor.
Major-General Eitan Dangot concluded his extensive career as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (C.O.G.A.T.) in 2014. Prior to that post he served as the Military Secretary to three Ministers of Defense; Shaul Mofaz, Amir Peretz and Ehud Barak.