Considering that under his leadership, Fatah, the single most important political group in Palestinian history, has been reduced to a total joke, the peace process non-existent (to be fair, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu deserves a lot of credit on that front, as well), and corruption and cronyism as rife as ever … well, no, nobody would really care if Mahmoud Abbas resigned as Palestinian President. In fact, getting new blood into the leadership of Fatah is necessary. Abbas and the old guard no longer have any real credibility with the Palestinian public.
If Israel (and Hamas) were really interested in restarting peace talks, they’d arrange for a prisoner swap over Gilad Shalit for Palestinian political prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti. That the United States has not gotten directly involved in these negotiations (preferring to let Egypt handle the mediation), and instead is banking solely on a Fatah-Israeli track for the renewal of peace talks, is disheartening to those who supported President Barack Obama because of his seemingly unconventional wisdom on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hamas must be brought into the political process, and requiring they fulfill the International Quartets rules before any discussions isn’t helpful. Preconditions will only serve to deter negotiations. It looked initially (appointing George Mitchell as special envoy, demanding Israel cease settlement construction) that Obama was serious about the renewal of the peace process. It now appears those early hopes were misconceived.
