The Man Who Could End the Palestinian Deadlock

JERUSALEM, Nov. 15, 2006 — -- The Palestinian Authority is likely to nominate Mohammed Shabair as the new prime minister, replacing Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas member who is expected to voluntarily step down as a way to end the devastating aid boycott that has crippled the already weakened Palestinian economy.

Since the Hamas-led Palestinian government took power in March, it has been isolated from much of the international community for refusing to recognize the state of Israel and failing to renounce violence.

Israeli authorities have been withholding tax revenues that it collects on behalf of the Palestinian territories, and the international community has cut off much-needed aid. Behind the scenes, Palestinian politicians have been desperate to figure out a way to end this boycott while Hamas refuses to meet the demands of the international community.

Several weeks ago, both the Hamas-led government and the moderate Fatah party agreed on a unity government, a power-sharing scheme to break the deadlock. Both parties decided to agree on new leaders to fill roles in government, who would be less militant than members of the Hamas government.

Hamas was asked to come up with candidates for prime minister. Shabair was the only candidate among those suggested by Hamas who was acceptable to Palestinian President Abbas. It is also likely that Shabair will be welcomed by Israel and the United States.

Shabair is not directly affiliated with Hamas, but his father was active in the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas' umbrella group. His appointment is believed to be part of a larger deal that is intended to ease tensions between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

If Shabair does take the post, it would likely lead to a lifting of the aid boycott and hundreds of millions of dollars will flow back into the Palestinian economy, something all Palestinians are eager to see happen. .

Shabair will come to this job with no prior political experience. He has never held a government job and he does not have the charisma of a political leader.

Shabair is best known for is his success as president of the Islamic University.

He raised tens of millions of dollars from Japan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United States, and many hope the American-educated Shabair can bring the same type of leadership to the Palestinian government.

Khaled al Halek, who taught with Shabair at the Islamic University, is somewhat skeptical about his chances, though.

"Solving the political situation for Palestinians is completely different from running a university," al Halek said.

He said he expects that Shabair's success will depend not on himself but on those around him.

Among the many challenges Shabair would face is trying to stop the Palestinian interfactional fighting, halting the rockets being fired into Israel by militants and trying to open up the borders to trade, which the Israeli Army has shut down.

Shabair's nephew, Bilal Shabair, seems to think that he has a good shot at success.

"He always tries to have good relations with everyone he tries to remove borders between people," Bilal Shabair said.

The official nomination will likely be announced on Friday. But so far, no one from the Palestinian government has formally asked Shabair if he would like the job. Until then, he refuses to talk about what he may do as the next Palestinian prime minister.