BIOGRAPHIES OF NEW PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY CABINET

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001254 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/WATERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2017 TAGS: PGOV KWBG IS KPAL PREL PINR SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHIES OF NEW PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY CABINET MEMBERS REF: JERUSALEM 1237 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) Biographies of new Palestinian Authority (PA) Cabinet members are listed starting in para. 2. According to PM Salam Fayyad, this government will likely be expanded in the next 30 days to include more ministers from Gaza and to reduce the number of ministers responsible for multiple portfolios. ¶2. (C) Prime Minister (also holding Finance and Foreign Affairs portfolios): Salam Fayyad. Fayyad was PA Finance Minister from October 2002-January 2006 and March-June 2007. In 2003, he submitted the first publicly-disclosed PA budget for PLC approval and is known for his no-nonsense attitude and commitment to transparency and fiscal responsibility. He started professional life as an economist and from 1995-2001 was the IMF representative in Jerusalem. He resigned to become Director of the Arab Bank's West Bank/Gaza operations before becoming PA Finance Minister in October 2002. He was elected to the PLC in January 2006 as a representative of the Third Way. PM Fayyad was born in Dayr al-Ghussun (near Tulkaram) in 1952 and is married with three children, all born in the U.S. He holds a BS in Engineering (American University of Beirut),and MBA in Accounting (University of Texas) and a PhD in Economics (University of Texas). He speaks flawless English and is a big fan of American football, specifically the University of Texas Longhorns and Dallas Cowboys. ¶3. (C) Interior: Abd al-Razaq al-Yahya ("Abu Anas") (independent but Fatah-aligned). A retired National Security Forces (NSF) Major General, al-Yahya previously served as Interior Minister from June-October 2002 under Yasser Arafat. As MoI, al-Yahya rejected militarization of popular resistance against Israel and called for an end to Intifadah violence. He was generally assessed as an honest but weak Interior Minister during this short tenure. After leaving the MoI, he joined Arafat's senior security team (with Haj Ismayil Jabr, Jibril Rajub, Abd al-Razaq Mujaydah, and - until 2002 - Nasser Yusif). He has had little involvement in PA security affairs since Arafat's death. He was a Palestinian Liberation Army (PLA) officer in Syria before the June 1967 war, served as military advisor to the PLO Executive Committee (ExComm) in 1968, and was chief-of-staff of the PLA under then-General Commander Yasser Arafat from 1970-71. He was a PLO ExComm member until 1988 and participated in security-related talks for the Interim Agreement (1995) and Hebron Protocol (1997). Al-Yahya is 78 years old. He was born March 15, 1929 in Tantura (near Haifa). ¶4. (C) Local Government, Agriculture: Ziad al-Bandak (Independent associated with Fatah). Al-Bandak was Tourism Minister from March 2005-January 2006 and has a record of cooperating with the GoI Tourism Ministry to encourage international tourists to visit Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and also of protesting Israeli-imposed closures and barrier construction around Bethlehem and its negative impact on the Palestinian tourist economy. Al-Bandak was Deputy Mayor of Bethlehem from 1997 to 2005 under former Mayor Hanna Nasser. Born in Amman, Jordan in 1960 from a prominent Bethlehem Christian family, al-Bandak returned to the West Bank in 1986 and opened a successful firm for manufacturing electrical boards. He has a MS in Electronics from Germany, where he was elected deputy head of the General Union of Palestinian Students in Germany. He speaks fluent English. ¶5. (C) Tourism, Women's Affairs: Khulud Daybis (Independent associated with Fatah). Daybis was Tourism Minister from March-June 2007 in the previous Cabinet. She directed the Heritage Preservation Center, a Bethlehem 2000 project. She holds an MA and PhD (1995) in Architectural Conservation from Hannover University in Germany, previously studied civil engineering, and was an IVLP participant (2004). Daybis, a Christian from Bethlehem, was born April 16, 1965, and is married with four children. She speaks fluent English. ¶6. (C) National Economy, Public Works, Telecommunications: Muhammad Kamal Hassunah (independent, but affiliated with Fatah and the Palestinian National Initiative). A Hebron-based businessman, Hassunah is Director-General of Petropal (Palestinian Mineral Lube Oil Co.). He also is Director-General of al-Electrod Co. welding, leads Hebron's cement consortium, vice-chairman of the Palestinian Businessmen's Association, and member of the Palestinian Federation of Industry. He holds a law degree. JERUSALEM 00001254 002 OF 002 ¶7. (C) Education, Culture: Laymis Alami (independent), previously Executive Director of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights (PICCR) and Chief of Field Education Programs for UNRWA. She has also served as a member of the Central Elections Commission (CEC) and a board member for university and quasi-governmental education councils. She has an MA in English literature from American University in Beirut and another MA in applied linguistics from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland (1974). She speaks fluent English. She was born in Jerusalem in 1943. ¶8. (C) Planning, Labor: Samir Abdullah (Palestinian People's Party). Ramallah-born Abdullah was Director of the Palestinian Economic Research Center since 2006, and a private sector analyst and consultant since 1996, including work for PalTrade and Arab Bank. Abdullah was an economic advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team in Madrid in 1991, and served as a deputy minister in the Palestinian Cabinet formed in 1994. He was an economics lecturer at al-Najah University (Nablus) from 1984-1991, and has a PhD in economics from Prague University. ¶9. (C) Health: Fathi Mughli Abu Mahdi (independent). A medical doctor and the WHO Director of Palestinian Health Projects since 2004, Abu Mahdi also has worked as director of international projects at the PA Ministry of Health in 1998, directed a World Bank project on the Palestinian health-care sector in 1999, and supervised the PA's Health Emergency Plan in 2000. He has lectured at several Palestinian universities and published many medical journal papers. Abu Mahdi was born in Nablus in 1950. ¶10. (C) Information, Justice: Riyad Maliki (independent). Director-General of Ramallah-based Panorama (Palestinian Center for Dissemination of Democracy and Community Development),is a veteran director and researcher of Palestinian NGOs. He also is a transportation planning advisor for the Ramallah Governorate and previously served on the steering committee for Orient House in Jerusalem. From 1981-1996, he was a professor of civil engineering at Bir Zayt University (Department Chair 1993-96). He has been a prolific writer on Palestinian political topics and is a frequent presenter for international conferences on both Israeli-Palestinian and general democratization/civil society. Maliki holds a PhD in civil engineering from Polytechnic University in New York (1986),an MS in Transportation Planning and Engineering (1981, also from Polytechnic. He speaks fluent English. Maliki was born in Bethlehem on May 31, 1955 and is married with three children. ¶11. (C) Waqf and Social Affairs: Jamal Bawatna (independent, Muslim shaykh). Shaykh Bawatna is the senior Muslim cleric for Ramallah and a Deputy Mufti to Muhammad Hussayn. He issues religious rulings (fatwas) for the Ramallah Governorate, and is an IVLP nominee. He issued a fatwa in August 2005 banning any attacks against Israeli forces while they evacuated Gaza settlements as contrary to Islamic law. He has written five books on Islamic topics, is editor-in-chief of religious magazine "al-Isra," and has appeared as a television program host on Muslim life. He has been supportive of interfaith dialogue projects in the past. He holds an MA in Islamic Contemporary Studies from al-Quds University (1999),and a BA in Islamic Studies from the Islamic University in Medina, Saudi Arabia (1981). He was born June 17, 1957 in 'Ajul (West Bank),and is married with 7 children. ¶12. (C) Transportation: Mash'hur Abu Daqqa (independent from Gaza). Previously a consultant for the PA Ministry of Telecommunication, Abu Daqqa has been a lecturer at Bir Zayt University, Director-General of Scientific Research at the Ministry of Education, and a consultant to several international organizations including the UNDP. He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from studies in London and has been a research fellow at multiple UK universities. He speaks fluent English. Abu Daqqa was born in Gaza in 1958. ¶13. (C) Prisoners' Affairs and Youth/Sport: Ashraf Ajrami (independent from Gaza, but associated with Fatah). Ajrami has worked in the PA Information Ministry as Director of Israeli Affairs since 1996. He was jailed by the GoI from 1984-1996. An author and researcher, Ajrami recently published a professional paper called "Religious Speech in the Media and Human Rights." He has a BA in English. He was born in Jabaliya Refugee Camp in Gaza in 1961. WALLES