The Fatah veteran, who spent more than 10 years in Israeli jails in the 1970s and 1980s, is seen as a successor to Mahmoud Abbas.
Hussein al-Sheikh, a Fatah veteran and former prisoner in Israel, has been chosen as deputy chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and vice president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), positioning him as a potential successor to ageing President Mahmoud Abbas.
The appointment of al-Sheikh to the two positions follows years of international pressure to reform the PLO and comes as Arab and Western powers envision an expanded role for the PA in the post-war governance of the Gaza Strip.
Abbas had nominated al-Sheikh to the positions this past week, and the PLO Executive Committee officially approved the appointments on Saturday, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Founded in 1964, the PLO is empowered to negotiate and sign international treaties on behalf of the Palestinian people while the PA is responsible for governing parts of the Palestinian territory, particularly the occupied West Bank.
The PLO is an umbrella organisation comprising several Palestinian political factions. But it excludes Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, which are currently at war with Israeli forces in Gaza and are at odds with Abbas.
Al-Sheikh, 64, is a veteran leader of Abbas’s Fatah movement, which dominates the PA, and is considered close to the president. He spent more than 10 years in Israeli jails in the late 1970s and early 1980s, during which he learned Hebrew.
In 2022, he was made the PLO Executive Committee’s secretary-general and head of its negotiations department, a sensitive portfolio, demonstrating his close ties to Abbas.
Abbas also recently appointed him as the head of a committee overseeing Palestinian diplomatic missions abroad.
Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, said al-Sheikh has been “groomed for the past 18 years” by Abbas.
“He [al-Sheikh] has been around since 2007 after Abbas took over after the split between Gaza and the occupied West Bank,” Bishara said, noting that the new deputy leader has been the main person coordinating with Israel on security matters.
“The Israelis know him and trust him, more than they know and trust Abbas.”
Palestinian analyst Hani al-Masri called for the creation of a vice presidential post within the PA itself. “This is not a reform measure but rather a response to external pressure,” said Masri of the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic Studies.
“What is required is a vice president for the PA to whom the powers could be transferred,” he told the AFP news agency.
Saudi Arabia welcomed the “reform steps” taken by Abbas in appointing al-Sheikh as his deputy.
According to Palestinian officials, in the event of Abbas’s death or resignation, the vice president would be expected to become the acting head of the PLO and of the State of Palestine, which is recognised by nearly 150 countries.
Concerns have been growing within the PLO that Israel might exploit Abbas’s departure and a possible power vacuum.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim gave the appointment of al-Sheikh a frosty reception.
“The Palestinian people are not a herd to be imposed upon leaders with dubious history who have tied their present and future to the occupation,” he said in a statement.
“Legitimacy is held only by the Palestinian people, and its tools are the rifle for resisting the occupation, and the ballot box. The guardianship over our people is long gone.”
