Muhammad Shtayyeh is a Palestinian politician and academic who holds several degrees in economics (Anatolia Agency)
A Palestinian politician and economist, born in the town of Tal in the Nablus Governorate in the West Bank in 1958. He obtained a doctorate in economic development from a British university.
At university, he joined the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), and rose through it until he was elected a member of its central committee in 2009. He held a number of positions and held tasks in bodies and institutions of an economic and development nature. He was appointed Minister of Public Works and Housing in the governments of Ahmed Qurei and Salam Fayyad. (2006/2005) and (2009/2008).
After the resignation of the Government of National Accord - which was led by Rami Hamdallah in 2019 - Muhammad Shtayyeh assumed the presidency of the government on the recommendation of the Fatah Central Committee, which was considered a coup against the agreements signed between Fatah and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and a deepening of the internal division.
His government faced a number of challenges and constraints, including Israel’s seizure of Palestinian tax funds, what was known as the deal of the century, the repercussions of the Corona pandemic, the ongoing raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque, and then the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, which resulted in the martyrdom of thousands of Palestinians and the displacement of hundreds. Thousands.
He submitted his government's resignation on February 26, 2024, claiming the need for new governmental and political arrangements, and for Palestinian unity in light of the war of extermination waged by the Israeli occupation on the Gaza Strip and the escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Birth and upbringing
Muhammad Ibrahim Muhammad Shtayyeh was born on January 17, 1958 in the town of Tal in the Nablus Governorate. He was nine years old when on June 5, 1967, Israel occupied the town in which he resides, and it remained under occupation until 1993 when the Oslo Accords were signed between the occupation and the authority. Palestinian nationalism.
Muhammad Shtayyeh is married and the father of 3 children: a son and two daughters.
The academic track
He received his basic education in Tal School and his secondary education in the schools of the city of Nablus, from which he obtained high school in 1977.
He obtained a bachelor's degree in economics and public administration from Birzeit University in 1981, then a diploma in development studies from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex in Brighton, Britain in 1985, and a doctorate in 1989 in economic development studies from the same university.
Muhammad Shtayyeh led the Palestinian government since 2019, and in 2024 he submitted his resignation (Reuters)
Administrative and practical path
He began his career as a journalist in Al-Shaab newspaper between 1980 and 1981, then as an assistant researcher at the Birzeit University Research Center. After obtaining his doctorate from Britain and returning to Palestine, he was appointed as an assistant professor.
He contributed to the establishment of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction “PECDAR” in 1994, which is a development institution working in the field of reconstruction and infrastructure projects, drawing up economic policy, attracting and coordinating donor aid, coordinating with non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies, as well as providing technical assistance and training in Palestine.
He served as head of the administrative and financial department in this council, before the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat appointed him as its president in 1996. In the same year, he was appointed as a lecturer in the Contemporary Arab Studies Program (MA) at Birzeit University.
He contributed to establishing a number of development bodies and institutions, including the National Institute for Information Technology in Ramallah, which is an academic institution focused on developing the information technology sector in Palestine.
He also participated in establishing the National Institute of Administration, which supervises the training of Palestinian Authority cadres, and the Palestinian Center for Regional Studies in Ramallah, which is a study institution concerned with regional and Middle Eastern affairs. In 2006, he was appointed governor of the Islamic Development Bank for Palestine.
The political track
Shtayyeh joined the Fatah movement during his university studies, and participated in its student and national activities. He was part of the Palestine Liberation Organization delegation to the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991 and a member of the steering committee supervising the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations on final status issues, which gave him important experience in international and diplomatic work. .
He was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement twice in a row at the movement’s sixth conferences in 2009 and the seventh in 2016, where he served as Financial and Economic Commissioner. He obtained membership in the National and Central Councils of the PLO in 2014.
Positions in government
Shtayyeh served as Minister of Public Works and Housing in the ninth government headed by Ahmed Qurei between 2005 and 2006, and returned to the same position in the 13th Palestinian government headed by Salam Fayyad between 2008 and 2009.
On March 10, 2019, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appointed him prime minister, succeeding Rami Hamdallah, who had led the National Reconciliation Government since 2004 under an agreement between the Fatah and Hamas movements.
He was chosen for this position on the recommendation of the Fatah Central Committee, before the Palestinian President assigned him the task of forming the 18th Palestinian government. Therefore, observers described it as a political government controlled by the Fatah movement, unlike previous governments that were led by independent national competencies.
Shtayyeh's selection for this position was considered an abandonment of reconciliation between the Fatah and Hamas movements and closing the way for a political solution to the state of internal division.
Muhammad Shtayyeh speaks at the Munich Security Conference on February 18, 2024 (French)
The Hamas movement announced its rejection of this step, seeing it as a reversal of the signed agreements and a perpetuation of the policy of tyranny. It declared that it does not recognize this government, which it described as separatist.
On April 13, 2019, Muhammad Shtayyeh was sworn in as the new head of the Palestinian government, which was composed of 26 ministers, including 3 female ministers.
During its term, this government faced a number of local and international challenges, including Israel’s seizure of clearance funds, which affected government services directed to the Palestinian people, especially in the education and health sectors.
On behalf of the Authority, Israel collects taxes on Palestinian imports and exports, and transfers funds to it monthly at an average of 750 million shekels ($190 million), and the Palestinian Authority relies on these funds to pay the salaries of its employees.
The Israeli Knesset approved a law on July 8, 2018, stipulating that a portion of the clearance funds be deducted equivalent to what the Palestinian Authority pays in monthly dues to the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded, which the Palestinian government considered piracy and punishment for the Palestinian people.
Among the challenges that this government faced was what was known as the “Deal of the Century” in 2020, the Corona pandemic, the economic repercussions of the Russian war on Ukraine and settlement, the raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque, and then the Israeli aggression on Gaza on October 7, 2023, which resulted until the day of Shtayyeh’s resignation. 29,782 Palestinians were martyred and 70,43 others were injured, most of them children and women, in addition to the destruction of infrastructure, historical monuments, mosques, and others.
Resignation from the government
Muhammad Shtayyeh officially announced his resignation from the presidency of the Palestinian government on February 26, 2024, and attributed this decision to the political, security and economic developments related to the aggression against Gaza and the escalation in the West Bank and the city of Jerusalem, and the fierce attack facing the Palestinian people and their political system, which requires governmental and political arrangements. New and unified Palestinian ranks.
Shtayyeh said at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, “I see that the next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the new reality in the Gaza Strip, the national unity talks, and the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus based on a national basis, broad participation, unity of ranks, and Extending the Authority’s authority over the entire land of Palestine.”
On the other hand, observers believed that his resignation came in response to international pressure to achieve the demand of “renewing power.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he had accepted Shtayyeh’s resignation on the same day, and assigned him to direct the work of the Palestinian government until another was formed.
Compositions
He has published many books and studies in the economic, development, political and literary fields, including:
“University Diploma Disease” in 1983 (in Arabic).
“Israel in the region: a struggle for consensus or cooperation?”
1998 (in English).
“The private sector... donor aid” in 1998 (in English).
“Palestine... Building the Foundations for Economic Growth” in 1987 and 1988 (Parts One and Two) (in English).
“The Future of Israeli Settlements” 2000 (in English).
“Geography of Development and Reconstruction in Palestine” in 2003 (in Arabic).
“A Crown of Thorns” in 2004 (a collection of short stories in Arabic).
“Encyclopedia of Palestinian Terms and Concepts” 2008 (in Arabic).
“Economics for Non-Economists” 2010 (in Arabic).
“The Brief History of Palestine” in 2015 (in Arabic and English).
“Israeli Settlements and the Erosion of the Two-State Solution” 2017 (in Arabic and English).
“The Palestinian Economy: Siege of Factors of Production” in 2018 (in Arabic).
“Palestine...a new development perspective” in 2018 (in Arabic).
Medals
The late French President Jacques Chirac awarded him a Knight of the Order of the First Class on May 31, 1997.
Source: Al Jazeera + websites