A new leader offers little hope for Palestinians

The revitalisationpapifpa of the Palestinian Authority () is one of the watchwords of the plans—insofar as any exist—for a post-war Gaza. After Mohammed Shtayyeh, the prime minister, resigned in February, America and others urged the Palestinians to pick a replacement who could unite Gaza and the West Bank and rescue them from the sclerotic leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas, who is 19 years into a four-year term and whom 88% Palestinians think should resign. Instead, Mr Abbas and his cronies, worried about losing power, appointed one of their own.For years Mohammad Mustafa has been Mr Abbas’s economic adviser, head of the sovereign-wealth Palestinian Investment Fund () and sometime minister of national economy. He has said he wants “justice, freedom, security, peace and prosperity”. “He’ll keep money and power with the president,” counters a businessman in Ramallah, the Palestinian seat of government. Mr Mustafa has the support neither of what remains of Hamas in Gaza nor of the ’s civil service, run by Fatah, the nationalist party in the West Bank.