Vol. 16, No.

15

September 15, 2016

The Businesses of Mahmoud Abbas and His Sons

Yoni Ben Menachem

Mahmoud Abbas, his wife (front row, bottom right), son Yasser (top left),
son Tareq (top right), and their families. Photo taken in 2005.1 (AFP Photo)

Abu Abbas is not prepared to countenance Muhammad Dahlan as his successor.

The PA chairmans two sons, Tareq and Yasser, own an economic empire in the
territories worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and they rely on their connection
with their father.

Mahmoud Abbas main endeavor is to find a fitting successor who will ensure both
the continued existence of his sons businesses and their wellbeing.

The succession battle in the Palestinian Authority has become very elemental since
Mahmoud Abbas rejected the request of four Arab states Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia,
and the United Arab Emirates to mend fences with his bitter rival Muhammad Dahlan.
Some of those states want to see Dahlan as the next PA chairman.
Although some in Fatah view Abbas rejection of the Arab request as an act of political
suicide, Abbas does not show signs of stress. At the urging of Egypt and Jordan, which
fear Hamas, he called off the elections in the territories and consented to a return to
Fatah by some of Dahlans people. As far as Abbas is concerned, he has complied with
most of Egypt and Jordans requests. Yet, still, he is not prepared to countenance
Muhammad Dahlan.
PA Prime Minister Riyad al-Maliki claims that relations with Arab states are in perfectly
good order.
This week, Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala), a member of the PLO Executive Committee, revealed
the way in which Abbas became PA chairman. It perhaps sheds light on how the next PA
chairman, in the absence of elections in the territories, will be appointed.
In an interview with the Palestinian news agency, Amad, on September 10, 2016, Qurei
said that he was the one who proposed Abbas as a candidate for the post and took him
to Yasser Arafat, then on his deathbed at the Mukata in Ramallah the evening before he
was flown to the hospital in Paris.
In the conversation Arafat did not suggest that Abbas should be his replacement; nor,
however, did he express opposition to Abbas, with whom he had had sharp
disagreements in the past. The conversation was friendly, and the issue of succession
was not raised at all.
Qurei said that after Arafats death, all the members of the Fatah leadership agreed to
Abbas appointment as successor because they trusted him.

The Abbas Familys Businesses

The bitter succession battle within Fatah and the fact that Abbas rejected the Arab
states request concerning Dahlan has impelled the interested parties to reveal publicly
the power-wealth nexus of Abbas and his sons. Senior officials in Fatah and in Arab
states sense the PA chairmans political weakness and are now leaking information to
the media about his governmental corruption.

3
In a report published on September 11, 2016, the Egyptian journalist Hussein Yousef of
Al-Masri Al-Youm highlighted the business activity of Abbas and his two sons, Yasser and
Tareq.2
Although his report gives a good deal of information on the topic, the Palestinian social
networks have already been posting various material on the Abbas familys corruption
for quite a while.3
Yousefs report describes the familys business empire, which is based on Abbas own
commercial ties and his connections with states and large companies worldwide, all of
which benefit his two sons business concerns.
Abbas two sons own a large business consortium called Falcon that has taken over
the West Banks commerce and its labor market. Abbas supports the group, and he has
arranged many favorable conditions that give it advantages over other companies.

Tareq Abbas is the Vice President of Corporate Affairs of the Arab Palestinian Investment Company (APIC).
He is also Chairman of the Board of Sky Advertising, Public Relations and Event Management Company,
Vice Chairman of the Arab Palestinian Shopping Centers, and President of the Palestinian Advertising
Association.4

The Falcon concern has several constituent companies:

a. The Falcon tobacco and cigars company.
b. The Falcon electricity and mechanical contracting company (it has branches in
the West Bank, Jordan, and the UAE). Abbas has mustered $890,000 in
assistance for it.

4
c. The Falcon international media company.
d. The Falcon general investment company, whose profits total $60 million.
e. The Al-Mashrek insurance company, which has 11 branches in the territories
with a worth estimated at $35 million.
f. The Al-Khayar al-Awal company for projects and development, headed by Yasser
Abbas.
The Al-Masri Al-Youm report claims that the Abbas family has accumulated its wealth
over many years and that Muhammad Rashid, who was Yasser Arafats economic
adviser, told him that Abbas had misappropriated a sum of at least $100 million.
Yousef asserts that Tarek Abbas has smuggled antiquities from the territories abroad
and has dealt in land and the selling of commercial concessions.

Dahlan, Erekat, Fayyad, Rajoub?

Dahlan alleges that Abbas is hiding away a sum of $600 million out of the $1.4 billion
that then-Prime Minister Salam Fayyad transferred to him after Arafats death.
In an interview with the Jordanian website Amon on June 8, 2016, Dahlan said it was he
who had arranged work for Abbas two sons with Fayyad at a monthly salary of $5,000,
yet today their wealth comes to $300 million.5
These dollar figures well explain why Abbas, despite his advanced age, clings to his post
and seeks a suitable successor who will safeguard his two sons economic empire after
he retires.
The Abbas familys corruption is the hot topic in the territories. It is clear that whoever
succeeds Abbas will need to put the house in order and clean up the governmental
corruption.
At first, Abbas wanted to appoint his trusted ally Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the
PLO Executive Committee, as his successor. Erekat, however, is considered a figure who
is weak and lacking credibility and popularity in the territories, and who would well have
served the familys interests after Abbas departure as well.
Abbas bid to appoint Erekat encountered strong opposition by Fatah Central
Committee members led by Jibril Rajoub, who sees himself as the successor, and Erekat
had to declare that he was renouncing the post.

Mahmoud Abbas and Muhammed Dahlan in the past (Al Sawt)

Since then the PA chairman has been seeking a different candidate to succeed him.
Another aspirant is rumored to be General Majid Freij, head of the Palestinian General
Intelligence, who is also considered a close associate of Abbas. So far, though, Abbas has
made no move to promote him, such as appointing him as PA deputy chairman.
Apparently, he fears going too far in ruffling the feathers of the Fatah leadership and the
Arab states, which want to see Dahlan as the next PA chairman something that would
likely be to the Abbas sons detriment in the future.
***
Yoni Ben Menachem is a senior Middle East analyst for the Jerusalem Center and former
Director General and Chief Editor of the Israel Broadcasting Authority.
***
Notes

http://www.qudsn.ps/article/89757

http://www.youm7.com/story/2016/9/112879689/---------/

See also: Jonathan Schanzer, The Brothers Abbas, Foreign Policy, June 5, 2012.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/06/05/the-brothers-abbas/
4

http://www.apic.ps/page.php?id=fc9cy64668Yfc9c

http://www.ammonnews.net/article/234680

This Jerusalem Issue Brief is available online at:

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