Palestinian Authority announces new cabinet under US pressure

RAMALLAH, West Bank The Palestinian Authority named members of a new cabinet on Thursday, promising a technocratic government that could help rebuild Gaza and combat endemic corruption.

Mohammad Mustafa, appointed prime minister earlier this month, announced the names of 22 new ministers who would join him in the government and outlined his vision, in a statement addressed to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The reshuffle at the highest levels of the Palestinian Authority, which manages part of the West Bank occupied by Israel, comes against a backdrop of American and international pressure to present a new face, motivated by hope, however tenuous, that the authority can overcome its credibility problems to play a role in the reconstruction and governance of what remains of the Gaza Strip after the ongoing Israeli military campaign.

Israel has vowed to crush Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007 after violently ousting the authority. Israel's targeting of key figures in the Hamas-led government, not only military leaders but also officials such as the police, has led to a chaotic power vacuum, particularly in the aid-starved north.

U.S. officials praised the new cabinet. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the administration was encouraged by the presence of Gaza-born ministers, a sign that the cabinet intended to be fully representative of the Palestinian people.

But in the West Bank, the new figures were greeted with shrugs. I hope this government will do what is necessary to help the people, but the authority is weak, said Salem Hamma, 37, a store owner in East Jerusalem. I doubt that this government will be capable of meeting the challenges ahead, particularly with regard to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

The government is nothing new, said Tareq Baconi, chairman of the board of Al-Shabaka, a Palestinian think tank. He called the changes cosmetic adjustments.

The political shake-up has resulted in widespread international pressure and widespread apathy and discontent with the Palestinian Authority, created after the 1993 Oslo Accords to administer the Palestinian territories.

Mustafa said in the statement that he was creating a nonpartisan government that could not only help rebuild Gaza, but also fight corruption and unify divided Palestinian institutions.

The statement does not address the Palestinian Authority's lack of power in Gaza. There was also no indication that Abbas would relinquish his role as president. The 88-year-old leader has been in power for two decades but has not held an election in 18 years.

A poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Survey released in December found that more than 90 percent of West Bank Palestinians wanted Abbas, better known as Abu Mazen, to resign.

The United States has pushed Abbas to undertake significant reforms within the Palestinian Authority. But the March 14 appointment of Mustafa, a close Abbas ally, as prime minister was seen as an indication that Abbas planned to retain political control rather than back down.

In the cabinet announcement, Mustafa said he would serve as foreign minister at the same time, ending speculation about who would occupy one of the most high-profile posts.

Few well-known personalities were cited. Ziad Hab al-Reeh, former head of the Palestinian Authority's domestic intelligence service, has been retained as interior minister.

Khaled Elgindy, director of the program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli affairs at the Middle East Institute, a Washington think tank, said few ministers were recognized. The new cabinet lacks legitimacy due to the lack of elections and the Palestinian Authority's continued cooperation with Israel on security, Elgindy said.

Israeli officials had little immediate reaction to this news. Raquela Karamson, a spokeswoman for the Israeli prime minister's office, said that unless the cabinet changed policies allowing payments to the families of people imprisoned by Israel for terrorism offenses, it would represent no change.

Some in the West Bank echoed this skepticism, for different reasons.

The solution is to form a government of national unity and consult all factions, said Muhammed Ali, a 57-year-old real estate developer in Shuafat. What will happen to this government after the end of the war on Gaza? It will lose its legitimacy and collapse.

Taylor reported from Washington. Lior Soroka contributed to this report.

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