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The Misleading Fayyad Blame Game

(Commentary) Jonathan S. Tobin - New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who modestly takes credit for coining the term "Fayyadism," has put forward a theory about American and Israeli responsibility for the PA prime minister's political demise. In this telling, without U.S. and Israeli cash to keep the Palestinian economy afloat, Fayyad's administration rapidly collapsed, allowing his enemies to force him out. However, Palestinian woes were not the fault of Fayyad's austerity policies but the fruit of a system in which no-work and no-show jobs for a vast army of Fatah backers was the backbone of the West Bank's economy. The Fatah party that had no use for a person who was an obstacle to their corrupt practices sabotaged Fayyad. Fayyad had no political constituency of his own. The lack of any appreciable support for Fayyad demonstrates that the Palestinian political culture remains hostile to his message of development and coexistence. Fayyad did have the support of the U.S. and Israel, but there isn't enough money in the U.S. or Israel to buy Fayyad a loyal base of Palestinian supporters. Until there is a sea change in Palestinian culture to allow a Fayyad to succeed, no amount of U.S. aid or Israeli diplomatic concessions will create a viable partner with whom the Jewish state can make peace.
2013-04-25 00:00:00
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