Israeli Foreign Minister: We do not bear responsibility for postponing the Palestinian elections

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Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar denied his country's responsibility for postponing the Palestinian elections, following the Palestinian leadership's announcement of postponing the legislative and presidential elections to September 11, 2027, instead of the scheduled date of next November, according to the Associated Press and Reuters.

Sa'ar had criticized the Palestinian move, in a post on the "X" platform, explaining that postponing the elections aims to "deceive the international community," according to his statements.

On the other hand, the Palestinian leadership attributed the postponement decision to the obstacles imposed by Israeli measures, in addition to the security, political and field conditions in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, and said that these conditions prevent the creation of the necessary conditions for holding free, fair and comprehensive elections, according to Reuters.

The Palestinian decree referred to restrictions on movement in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, settlement expansion and settler violence, as well as Israel's withholding of Palestinian tax revenues. As for the Gaza Strip, he spoke about the exceptional security and humanitarian conditions, the incompleteness of the Israeli withdrawal, and the faltering reconstruction efforts.

The legislative elections were scheduled to be held on November 28, 2026, before the new decree set September 11, 2027 as a simultaneous date for the legislative and presidential elections. The decree called on Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to participate in the vote, according to Reuters.

The step comes in light of a Palestinian political division that has been ongoing for years, as legislative elections have not been held since 2006, when Hamas won the majority of seats in the Legislative Council, while the last presidential elections date back to 2005, when Mahmoud Abbas won the presidency.

The division worsened after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, while the Palestinian Authority continued to administer parts of the West Bank. Since the end of Abbas's presidential term in 2009, no new presidential elections have been held, while attempts have been made to set dates for voting and then postpone them, amid political disagreements and field obstacles, according to Reuters and Associated Press.