Mahmoud Abbas: Pressing the Flesh for Peace

Key Backer
Abbas greets Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February 2005. Hamas' 2006 election victory and Abbas' declining influence, even within his Fatah movement, made him increasingly reliant on the backing of moderate Arab regimes, first among them the government of Mubarak — whose own hostility to Hamas led him to cooperate in the economic siege of Gaza. More recently, Abbas has had to rely primarily on Mubarak and allied Arab leaders for a mandate to talk to Israel, as the backing of Fatah and the Palestine Liberation Organization can't be assumed.

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