Prof. Kobi Michael: Abbas had “a good reason” to want to postpone, given the recent developments with Dahlan and Hamas. Fatah is very unpopular among the Palestinian constituency, and Hamas is too, but a third political force might be much more popular.
Abu Mazen [Abbas] understands that losing the general election means losing the presidential election and he will prefer not to take the risk.
I have good reason to believe that if the national party is established and decides to participate in the election, Israel will find a way to help Abu Mazen postpone the election because it poses a real and substantial threat and risk of legitimizing Hamas as a political actor.
It would weaken the PA and enable Hamas to hold both ends of the rope: to continue to lead the armed resistance against Israel and at the very same time to become a legitimate influential political actor.
Published in The Jerusalem Post, September 03, 2026.
*The opinions expressed in Misgav publications are the authors’ alone.
