POTENTIAL MINISTERIAL CANDIDATES: ZIAD ABU AMR AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000385

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MUSTAFA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG PBTS IS KPAL KDEM
SUBJECT: POTENTIAL MINISTERIAL CANDIDATES: ZIAD ABU AMR AND
MUSTAFA BARGHOUTHI

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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Summary
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1. (C) Two possible compromise candidates that Hamas may
offer in upcoming consultations over government formation
with President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) are Ziad Abu Amr, a
re-elected independent PLC member from Gaza City and Mustafa
Bargouthi, the head of the "Independent Palestine" party
which, with 41 candidates on its national list, succeeded in
getting two of them elected to the new PLC. Amr's re-election
was enabled in this campaign by his association with Hamas,
and all 8 district seats in Gaza City were won by Hamas or
Hamas-associated independents. Mustafa Bargouthi's ties with
Hamas do not extend as deeply. Instead, Bargouthi's possible
candidacy as a senior minister in a Hamas government seem
more rooted in Bargouthi's legendary opportunism, and
possibly as a way to secure Independent Palestine's 2 PLC
votes, thereby bringing Hamas within 2 votes of the 87 it
would need to amend the Basic Law.

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Ziad Abu Amr
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2. (C) Ziad Abu Amr is a prominent Gaza politician, and
was first elected to the PLC in 1996. He served as the
Minister of Culture in the cabinet headed by then-PM Abu
Mazen in 2003. Amr holds a PhD in political science from the
United States and also taught at Bir Zeit university for many
years. He runs a think-tank in Gaza, and has held seminars
over the last several years that featured meetings between
Israelis and prominent Hamas figures. Ziad Abu Amr's
successful candidacy was anchored in his relationship with
Hamas during the campaign, and it appears that Hamas regards
him as someone they think would be an acceptable interlocutor
to the outside world and a possible front-man Prime Minister
or Foreign Minister.

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Mustafa Bargouthi
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4. (C) Mustafa Bargouthi a distant relative of jailed
Fatah party leader Marwan Bargouthi was elected on January 25
at the head of the Independent Palestine list. Bargouthi's
most salient political feature is his opportunism. A former
Communist and member of the Palestinian People's Party (the
former Palestinian Communist Party),he was originally
educated in the former Soviet Union and graduated as a
doctor. In the 1980s, he also received a PhD from the United
States. He returned back to Palestine and the established a
network of medical relief committees in the early 1990s,
which provided medical care throughout the West Bank and
Gaza. Bargouthi made effective use of his clients to form an
effective political base.


5. (C) Bargouthi broke with the People's party and
established his own political movement, the "National
Initiative," in 2002. His movement received some recognition
among the Palestinian political class and allowed him to
build political connections throughout the West Bank and
Gaza. The National Initiative attempted to be recognized as a
member of the PLO, but the request was turned down.


6. (C) While Bargouthi is not a natural Hamas ally, he would
by all accounts be likely to join its government if he were
offered a position as Prime Minister or Foreign Minister. The
2 seats of Independent Palestine, added to the 76 seats of
Hamas, 4 seats of Hamas-associated independents, and 3 seats
of the PLFP (also expected to ally with Hamas) would bring
Hamas to within 2 seats of the 87 it would need to amend the
Basic Law.

WALLES