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Source: http://jcpa.org/road-bypass-mahmoud-abbas/
A Road to Bypass Mahmoud Abbas?
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Yoni Ben Menachem - Near the end of his tenure, the main consideration guiding 81-year-old Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is to remain in power while seeking an appropriate successor, one who will allow him to retire honorably and will ensure the well-being of his family and his two sons' economic interests. Abbas is not looking for diplomatic adventures. He is sticking with his strategy of internationalizing the conflict. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's new plan to open a dialogue with Palestinian academics and businesspeople gravely concerns Abbas, who sees this as going over his head to find a new Palestinian address. Abbas fears that Israel will expand its ties with the heads of the independent lists and with heads of large West Bank clans who will run in the upcoming West Bank municipal elections, thereby helping these figures create a route that bypasses the PA. The writer is former director general and chief editor of the Israel Broadcasting Authority.