Hussein al-Sheikh | |
|---|---|
حسين الشيخ | |
| Al-Sheikh in 2022 | |
| 1st Vice President of Palestine | |
| Assumed office 26 April 2025 | |
| President | Mahmoud Abbas |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Vice Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization | |
| Assumed office 26 April 2025 | |
| Vice Chairman of Central Committee of Fatah | |
| Assumed office 3 June 2026 | |
| President | Mahmoud Abbas |
| Preceded by | Mahmoud Aloul |
| Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization | |
| In office 25 May 2022 –26 April 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Saeb Erekat |
| Succeeded by | Azzam al-Ahmad |
| President of the General Authority for Civil Affairs | |
| In office 2007 –20 February 2025 | |
| President | Mahmoud Abbas |
| Prime Minister | Salam Fayyad Rami Hamdallah Mohammad Shtayyeh Mohammad Mustafa |
| Preceded by | Mohammed Dahlan (as Minister of Civil Affairs) |
| Succeeded by | Ayman Qandil |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 December 1960 |
| Party | Fatah |
| Children | 6 |
| Website | Official website |
Hussein al-Sheikh (Arabic :حسينالشيخ;born 14 December 1960) is a Palestinian politician who has served as the first vice president of Palestine since 26 April 2025. [1] He has also served as the secretary general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 25 May 2022 to 26 April 2025. [2]
Hussein al-Sheikh was born in Ramallah on 14 December 1960 during a period of the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank. [3] His family fled from their village during the Nakba in 1948. [4]
From 1977/8 to 1988/9, [5] Al-Sheikh spent 11 years in Israeli prisons during his youth,during which he learned Hebrew. [6] During the First Intifada he was a member of the Unified National Leadership of the Uprising. He was a colonel in the Palestinian Preventive Security. In 1999,he became secretary general of Fatah in the West Bank. [5]
Al-Sheikh headed the General Authority of Civil Affairs of the Palestinian National Authority from 2007 to 2025. He was first elected as a member of the Central Committee of Fatah in 2008. [7] From 2013 to 2019,he was the minister for the coordination of civil affairs. [5]
On 25 June 2022,the Executive Committee of the PLO reaffirmed al-Sheikh as secretary general and head of the Negotiations Affairs Department of the PLO. [8]
On 25 April 2025,Mahmoud Abbas,the President of Palestine,appointed al-Sheikh as Vice President and deputy chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO. [1] Al-Sheikh's appointment was controversial,with many Palestinians seeing him as unpopular,corrupt,and too close to Israel. [9] [10] [11]
Al-Sheikh is the father of six children. [4]
Al-Sheikh's rise to power has not been without scandal. In February 2022, reports surfaced that he had been involved in sexual misconduct and corruption. These allegations included claims that al-Sheikh had concealed millions of dollars intended for Gaza's reconstruction and had profited from issuing permits to enter Israel, generating significant financial gains. Furthermore, he was accused of attempting to silence a victim of sexual assault by offering money to buy their silence.
Israeli power brokers admire Sheikh as a pragmatic partner with an uncanny ability to find common ground. "He's our man in Ramallah," said one retired senior Israeli security official who requested anonymity due to an ongoing role in Israeli intelligence as a reservist. Many Palestinians, however, argue his approach has only reinforced the conflict's status quo — a seemingly endless military occupation now in its sixth decade.
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