How the Israeli media views Fayyad's resignation

The resignation of the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister in Ramallah, Salam Fayyad, has attracted much attention within the Israeli media. On the whole, the various media outlets have given it varied analyses with some considering it to have a negative impact while others believe that it means nothing.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an article with the headline: “Fayyad’s resignation: The beginning of the end of the PA?” The headline clearly overshadows the important role Fayyad has played in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and hints at the vacuum he is going to leave behind.

In the article, the newspaper expected that the negative results of Fayyad’s resignation would hit not only the PA, but also Israel. It asserted that the reason behind his successes, which both the Palestinians and the Israelis will miss, is based on US and EU support for him.

Both sides consider that he implemented a positive economic policy and fought corruption.

In addition, he received much accolade for building Palestinian state institutions from the bottom up and received much international support.

For all of these reasons, his departure will negatively affect the US peace efforts led by Secretary of State, John Kerry.

Regarding the reason of his resignation, Haaretz said: “It was actually the PA prime minister’s successes that eventually led to his downfall. His effective management and relative popularity meant he was a threat to too many people.”

Maariv newspaper agreed with Haaretz regarding the significant role that Fayyad has played in building PA institutions and supporting the peace process. Similarly, It also said that he enjoyed significant support from the US and EU states.

However, it did not expect that his resignation would negatively affect the PA institutions. It said that this issue, as well as the peace process in the region, are the choices of PA president Mahmoud Abbas. Thus, nothing will change.

Yedioth Ahronoth took the news of the resignation normally. It described the different implications around it and spoke about US pressure on Abbas to change his mind regarding accepting the resignation.

The newspaper spoke of a number of Palestinians individuals one of whom is expected to take over as future prime minister. The most prominent name was Mohamed Mostafa, the head of the Palestinian Investment Fund.