The intelligence community said Abbas has been losing authority over
both Fatah and the West Bank. The sources said Abbas, who suffers from heart
and other ailments, has ceded much of his power to Prime Minister Salam
Fayyad.
"Fatah has made it clear that it will never accept Fayyad," the source
said. "His only role is to bring money to the movement, particularly the
leadership."
Abbas has come under increasing pressure by the young guard in Fatah to
resign, the sources said. They said the PA chairman has opposed Fatah or PLO
elections out of concern that he and his supporters would be defeated.
The sources said the United States wants Fayyad to succeed Abbas, either
as PA chairman or together with Fatah leaders. But the Israeli intelligence
community has assessed that Fatah would resist any attempt by Fayyad to
assume power.
The sources said Abbas has threatened to quit several times amid U.S.
pressure to accelerate negotiations with Israel. Over the last year, Abbas
was said to have lost most of his leading aides, including security chiefs
Jibril Rajoub and Tawfiq Tirawi.
"There's almost no Palestinian leadership," Palestinian Legislative
Council member Kadoura Fares said.
