Despite Middle East news taking a backseat to the provocations of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, diplomacy has been roiled by the resignation of Salam Fayyad, prime minster of the Palestinian Authority.

Fayyad’s timing could not have been worse for the efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry to restart the moribund Palestinian-Israeli peace process. During Fayyad’s tenure, the Western-educated and economically savvy leader has been a knowledgeable counterweight to the radical Hamas regime that controls the Gaza Strip.

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A New York Times article notes that the step had been “brewing for weeks over Fayyad’s differences with Abbas and his Fatah Party,” and that Fayyad’s decision “seemed to deliver a blow to American prestige at the very least.” The article adds that staving off Fayyad’s resignation had been a topic that President Barack Obama discussed with both Fayyad and PA President Mahmoud Abbas when the American leader visited Ramallah, West Bank last month, and it was also a topic Kerry broached with Abbas during his time in the region.

Since he left the Middle East, Kerry has had his hands full dealing with the crisis coming out of North Korea, but still took the time to have had more than one telephone conversation with both Abbas and Fayyad. Israeli officials have also been urging Fayyad to stay, though in a quiet manner intended to avoid opponents’ claims that he is a lackey of the United States and Israel.

In recent weeks, key Fatah leaders have clashed over Fayyad’s pro-Western, pro-capitalist policies. He is regarded as a political independent even though he is the head of the Fatah-led West Bank government. He reportedly submitted a letter to Abbas on March 23, stating his intention to resign. Despite this move, Fayyad, who is admired for a strong work ethic, helped pass a new annual budget even while spending a few days in the hospital for stomach pains, and managed to “keep things on course” during the visits of Obama and Kerry.

Despite his administrative competence, which is highly valued by the U.S., Israel and the European Union, Fayyad has failed to build a popular base of support in the West Bank, and “senior Fatah figures” are “resentful of his power,” tending to blame him for all of the problems of the PA, according to the Times report.

Fayyad is an American-educated economist, a technocrat who was admired by both Israeli and American officials for “introducing transparency, accountability and stability” to the PA. This focus was hugely important given the corruption and lack of openness during the long misrule of Abbas’ predecessor, the late PA President Yasser Arafat.

Fayyad was credited for much of the impressive growth in gross domestic product in the West Bank in the book, “Start-Up Nation,” by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, who praised him for Western-oriented economic and financial policies that complemented those of the Israel.

The PA has “been mired in financial crisis for two years,” reports the Times, “in part because of a shortfall in donations and Israel’s withholding of tax revenues in response to Abbas’ bid for enhanced status at the United Nations.” These setbacks eroded the progress towards economic growth and stability for which Fayyad had been credited.

Perhaps the final blow to Fayyad came when the Fatah Revolutionary Council, the party’s legislative body, harshly criticized his economic policies, calling them “improvised and confused.” After this latest official rebuke from Abbas’ ruling party, Fayyad became further isolated and may have had no choice but to resign.

While Fayyad certainly has had his moments in wrongly lashing out at Israel, his resignation is a setback for moderation and for the prospects of a two-state solution. No other PA official was more committed to rational economic and security policies which would make a lasting and effective two-state solution possible. 

Fayyad has made more than one attempt to resign and then later agree to stay on. We hope that this is the case once again and that his days as a leader and a voice for reason in the PA are not over.