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How did Salam Fayyad try to prepare the Palestinian Authority for statehood?
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Palestinian Authority
U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton (center) looking on as Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left) shakes hands with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after the signing of the Declaration of Principles on Palestinian Self-Rule, September 1993.
As prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (2007–2013), Salam Fayyad pursued a neoliberal state-building agenda designed to prepare the territory for independent statehood. His approach, often referred to as "Fayyadism," focused on two primary pillars:12
- Institutional Development: Fayyad prioritized the creation and strengthening of robust government institutions to ensure the functionality of a future state. His efforts were sufficiently successful that by 2011, the United Nations reported that the Palestinian Authority had developed institutions "sufficient for a functioning government of a state".12
- Economic Growth: He worked to spur economic growth within the West Bank while maintaining a nonconfrontational stance toward Israel.12
While these policies were praised by many Western governments and foreign observers as constructive, they faced significant criticism from Palestinian factions. Many viewed his efforts as ephemeral and ineffective in the absence of broader diplomatic progress that could guarantee the stability and permanence of these new institutions.2