What did the Hebrew newspapers write about postponing the Palestinian elections!!

Ramallah - Ofoq News - The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth linked the postponement of the Palestinian Legislative Council elections to the escalation of fears within the Fatah movement about a competing alliance that includes Hamas, the Islamic Jihad movement, and Muhammad Dahlan, in a development that places the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas facing an increasing internal challenge, and raises questions about the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to the promises it made to France to hold elections and implement political reforms.

According to the report, Hussein Al-Sheikh, Vice President of the Palestinian Authority, informed the French side of the postponement of the legislative elections, which were scheduled to be held on November 28, 2026, for several months, with expectations that they will be postponed to a date during the year 2027.

The Palestinian leadership justified the decision by the deterioration of the political, security and economic conditions, considering that the current circumstances do not allow guaranteeing freedom of participation and the integrity of the electoral process. However, the newspaper highlighted the timing of the announcement, which came after reaching an agreement between Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Muhammad Dahlan to form a joint alliance capable of competing with Abbas and the Fatah movement in the elections.

This path reveals the tension between the authority’s need for external legitimacy (or more correctly, money and euros) and the priority of maintaining internal balances of power (i.e. Abbas and his descendants continuing to rule). The Authority needs France to strengthen its international standing and market its ability to lead a Palestinian state, and offers elections and reforms as guarantees of this eligibility. When these commitments enter the arena of internal competition, the calculations of the leadership’s survival and confrontation of its opponents take precedence over the promises it made to its partners.

The timing of the postponement raises a question about the weight of the rival coalition (those who hate Abbas), while the true causal relationship remains an issue that needs to be proven.

This development, according to the report’s reading, raises question marks about whether fears of losing the elections played a role in the decision to postpone, especially in light of the challenges facing the Fatah leadership and the possibilities of forming an electoral front that brings together Abbas’s opponents. However, the direct link between the coalition and the postponement decision remains a conclusion that requires evidence to prove it.

France between promises of reform and calculations of survival

Postponing the elections is not limited to its internal repercussions, but rather puts the Palestinian Authority to the test of its commitments to France, which has linked its political and diplomatic support to the path of Palestinian reforms and electoral entitlements that enhance the legitimacy of institutions.

In November 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron announced, along with Abbas, the formation of a joint committee between Paris and Ramallah to discuss the constitution of the future Palestinian state, within the framework of a vision for a state living in peace and security alongside Israel.

President Abbas also pledged in a letter to Macron to hold presidential and parliamentary elections within a year of the end of the war, in addition to completing the preparation of an interim constitution and laws regulating elections and political parties.

The developments, according to the newspaper’s reading, reveal a contradiction between the Palestinian leadership’s need for international support and recognition, on the one hand, and the calculations of maintaining the internal balance of power, on the other hand. While elections and reforms are part of the government's pledges to Paris, the rise of a rival coalition exposes this leadership to the possibility of losing its political influence.

The last Palestinian legislative elections date back to 2006, while the last presidential elections were held in 2005, which makes the postponement of the new entitlement an extension of the absence of elections for nearly two decades, and re-raises the question about the ability of the Authority to renew its legitimacy in light of political division and competing centers of influence.