Barghouti’s Wife Leads Movement to Support Him as Possible Successor to Abbas

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met with Barghouti on July 26 (Foreign Ministry website)
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met with Barghouti on July 26 (Foreign Ministry website)
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Barghouti’s Wife Leads Movement to Support Him as Possible Successor to Abbas

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met with Barghouti on July 26 (Foreign Ministry website)
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met with Barghouti on July 26 (Foreign Ministry website)

Fadwa Barghouti, the wife of Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is detained in Israeli prisons, has been renewing attempts to support her husband as a possible successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

In recent weeks, she held extensive meetings with senior officials in Arab countries, and diplomats in the United States, Russia and Europe, asking them to work for her husband’s release from Israeli prison.

Israeli Haaretz newspaper said that the meetings also aimed at rallying international support for her husband, as the right person to head the Palestinian Authority, after the end of the term of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Among the many officials Barghouti has recently met were Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, to whom she conveyed a letter from her husband to King Abdullah II, the Secretary-General of Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

During her meeting with Safadi, Barghouti discussed the launch of a wide international campaign in Europe, South Africa, Latin America and Ireland, entitled “Freedom for Marwan Barghouti, the Mandela of Palestine.”

Barghouti sees her husband as “a savior for the Palestinian cause”, and stresses that he is “an urgent national need, as a symbol of national consensus, who is capable of ending division, and achieving and restoring the unity of the Palestinian people, the cause, and the land.”

Marwan Barghouti, 65, has been detained in Israel since 2002. He was condemned to five life sentences and forty years in prison on charges of leading the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military arm of the Fatah movement, which is responsible for the killing of Israelis during the second Al-Aqsa Intifada that erupted in 2000.

His name appears in every talk about the successor to Abbas, as he has maintained a significant lead over other candidates in all opinion polls. Sources close to Barghouti’s circles said that he would not hesitate to run for office in the upcoming presidential elections, and would not give up this right.



Israeli Military Inquiry Says It ‘Failed to Protect’ Civilians on October 7

An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Israeli Military Inquiry Says It ‘Failed to Protect’ Civilians on October 7

An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Reuters)

The Israeli military drastically underestimated the capabilities of Hamas before its attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and "failed in its mission to protect Israeli civilians", a summary of an Israeli military investigation published on Thursday said.

The perception that Hamas was not interested in a full-scale conflict and that Israel would have ample warning if that changed went unchallenged for years, the summary said, resulting in a lack of preparedness and ability to respond to an attack.

"The belief was that Hamas could be influenced through pressures that would reduce its motivation for war, primarily by improving living conditions in the Gaza Strip," the report said.

The investigation looked at Israeli military strategy, battle behavior and intelligence before, during and after October 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 48,000 people have been killed in Israel's assault on Gaza since then, according to Palestinian health officials. Much of the enclave has been laid waste and most of the territory's 2.3 million prewar population have been displaced multiple times, humanitarian agencies say. Around 400 Israeli soldiers have also been killed.

The military investigation was conducted as calls grow from within the Israeli opposition and civil society for a national inquiry into the government's failures on the deadliest single day in modern Israeli history.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a national inquiry would only be appropriate after the conclusion of the war.

The first phase of a ceasefire that began on January 19 is due to expire in two days' time.

The military investigation found Israel had focused its intelligence and military efforts on other fronts, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, and relied too heavily "on intelligence, barriers, and defensive measures alone", and was thus caught by surprise.

Military commanders did not perceive an urgent threat leading up to October 7 attacks and did not reinforce the troops defending the border.

A statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office on Thursday said that the military had not given the prime minister the findings of its investigations into the war.