ABBAS CHAIRS PA'S WEEKLY CABINET MEETING IN PUBLIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000653

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA FOR IPA AND FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2018
TAGS: PGOV KWBG IS ECON EFIN ELAB
SUBJECT: ABBAS CHAIRS PA'S WEEKLY CABINET MEETING IN PUBLIC
SHOW OF SUPPORT FOR FAYYAD

REF: A. JERUSALEM 628


B. JERUSALEM 615

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


1. (C) Summary. President Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) chaired
the PA's weekly Cabinet session April 14 in a public show of
support for PM Salam Fayyad's government. Local press gave
the Cabinet session favorable coverage emphasizing the theme
of Palestinian unity. End summary.

Abbas Chairs Cabinet Session, Expresses
"Full Confidence" in Fayyad Government
--------------


2. (U) President Abbas chaired the April 14 Cabinet session
in Ramallah in a move he and Cabinet officials said
demonstrated the President's "full support for and confidence
in PM Fayyad's government." Local press and Cabinet contacts
report that Abbas said "This is my Cabinet and I support it,"
and praised the Cabinet's achievements in its nine-month
tenure. Press quoted Information Minister Riyad Maliki as
saying President Abbas recalled similar difficulties and
internal pressure when he was Prime Minister in 2003, and
asked Cabinet Ministers to disregard outside criticism from
"various quarters."


3. (U) Also April 14, Abbas and Fayyad presided over a
public signing ceremony for an OPIC-backed mortgage financing
facility. The ceremony and Cabinet session were the first
public appearance by Fayyad and Abbas together in several
months, and received widespread and favorable television and
front-page newspaper coverage emphasizing the theme of
Palestinian unity.

Fayyad Pressed Abbas to Ease Fatah
Interference, Public Sector Strike
--------------


4. (C) According to President's Office and PA Ministerial
contacts, Abbas' decision to attend the April 14 session
followed his meeting with PM Fayyad on April 12, in which
Fayyad sought the President's support in the face of Fatah
efforts to undermine the government, encourage the PA unions
to strike and press for a Cabinet reshuffle. Fayyad
reportedly complained specifically about PLC Fatah bloc
leader Azzam al-Ahmad, General Intelligence chief Tawfiq
Tirawi, and the Fatah-connected labor leaders who called for
strikes in defiance of a PA High Court injunction (ref A).
President's Office contacts say Abbas, who had intervened to
tone down the confrontation between the unions and the
government, took Fayyad's grievances seriously and decided to
attend the Cabinet session and exercise leverage with Fatah
leaders to ease pressure on the government.

WALLES