PLO official presents resignation to Abbas after blowback over ‘normalization meetings’

Mohammed al-Madani, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Committee for Interaction with Israeli Society, has presented Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas his resignation, a member of the PLO body says.

Gatherings between Israelis and Palestinians organized by the committee earlier in February recently came under fire, mainly on social media platforms, with activists denigrating them as “normalization meetings.”

“Madani was disappointed that senior Fatah and PLO officials did not defend him when our work was being attacked,” the member of the committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, tells The Times of Israel.

Abbas will meet today with Madani as well as members of the committee at 6:30 p.m. at the PA presidential headquarters, he also says, noting that the PA president can decide to accept or reject the committee chairman’s resignation.

In the past couple of days, several Fatah officials have asked Madani to remain in his post, he adds.

Yesterday, senior Fatah official Tawfiq al-Tirawi came out in support of Madani and criticized the Fatah Central Committee for “refraining from defending him.”
The Kan public broadcaster first published that Madani had offered his resignation to Abbas.

— Adam Rasgon