Abbas spokesman appointed to top Fatah body

Nabil Abu Rudeinah, who has worked as Abbas’s spokesman since 2005, is one of the PA president’s closest allies.

By ADAM RASGON
Updated: JUNE 20, 2017 02:08
Mahmoud Abbas (photo credit: REUTERS)
Mahmoud Abbas
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah was appointed to the most authoritative Fatah body, the Central Committee, Abbas Zaki, a committee member, confirmed on Monday.
Abu Rudeinah, who has worked as Abbas’s spokesman since 2005, is one of the PA president’s closest allies. He almost always travels with Abbas and accompanies him to meetings with foreign leaders.
“The Central Committee unanimously decided to appoint Nabil,” Zaki said in a phone interview.
Abu Rudeinah previously served as a committee member between 2010-16, but lost his seat when he did not run in the Central Committee elections at the last Fatah party congress in December 2016.
Jihad Harb, a Palestinian researcher and analyst, said that Abu Rudeinah’s appointment is significant.
“He will be yet another supportive voice for Abbas on the Central Committee,” Harb, who is a close observer of internal Palestinian politics, said in an interview.
Harb added that the appointment of Abu Rudeinah, who is Christian, is also an attempt to show that Fatah embraces pluralism.
“Fatah wants to send a message that it accepts everyone including Christians,” Harb remarked.
Abu Rudienah’s appointment comes approximately three weeks after Karim Younis, an Arab-Israeli prisoner convicted of murdering an Israeli soldier, was appointed a committee member.
The Central Committee, which is comprised of 18 elected and three appointed members, is expected to make its third and final appointment in the coming weeks, according to Zaki, who declined to comment on who is being considered.