The alleged statements by Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior official seen as a potential successor to the 87-year-old Abbas, give a glimpse into the bitter infighting within the Palestinian leadership as many aspirants search for a place in the post-Abbas era.
Abbas has not named a successor, and last year canceled what would have been the first Palestinian parliamentary elections in 15 years.
The audio recording was published by a news website run by Hamas, the arch-rival of Abbas’s Fatah movement.
He did not know when the recording was made, who made it, and how Hamas obtained it.
The exact context of the talks was also not clear. But the sheikh was repeatedly heard complaining about Abbas and denigrating other potential presidential contenders.
It is noteworthy that the sheikh is a senior official who occupies a powerful position in overseeing day-to-day relations with Israel. He was also appointed this year as Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization, sparking speculation that Abbas was grooming him for the presidency.
Abbas, who was elected to what was supposed to be a four-year term in 2006, has steadily declined in popularity during his years in office.
Abbas is widely seen as authoritarian and alienated from his people, and blamed for years of failed and on-and-off peace negotiations.
Throughout the recording, the sheikh would hurl a series of insults at Abbas.
In another section of the audio clip, which is more than 3 minutes long, the sheikh says that Abbas is “a partner in the chaos and has an interest in it remaining.”
It was not clear whether the sheikh was referring to the recent months of Israeli-Palestinian violence in the West Bank, or the protests against the Palestinian Authority headed by Abbas, following the death of one of its prominent critics in Palestinian custody in 2021.
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