Palestinian Premier Submits Resignation After Just Two Weeks in Office

It was not immediately clear if the president of the West Bank-based authority, Mahmoud Abbas, would accept the resignation, and analysts said the matter was primarily a domestic one that would not directly impinge on Mr. Abbas’s ability to make decisions regarding Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace mission.

But analysts also said that the image of chronic political instability could undercut crucial international support for the Palestinians, both financial and political, at a time when they are supposed to be pushing for statehood. Palestinians said they viewed the political drama as another setback for the already beleaguered Mr. Abbas and his Fatah Party.

“We see that there is a state of confusion,” said Zakaria al-Qaq, a national security expert at Al Quds University. “This cabinet was still receiving congratulations. Now, I think, it is facing the harsh realities.”

“Image is very important,” Mr. Qaq added, suggesting that the lack of political clarity or a cohesive Palestinian government could even give Mr. Kerry cause — or a pretext — to delay his peace efforts.

Mr. Kerry is expected in the region later this month for a fifth visit in his quest to revive peace talks. Differences within the Israeli government over the Palestinian question have been on stark display in recent days, adding to a sense that Mr. Kerry’s mission is approaching a decision point. But any breakthrough between the Israeli and Palestinian sides has so far remained elusive, with each side blaming the other.

International confidence in the Palestinian Authority was already shaken when the previous prime minister, Salam Fayyad, an internationally respected economist, resigned in April. Mr. Fayyad remained in office as a caretaker while Mr. Abbas worked to find a replacement.

Mr. Hamdallah, a professor of linguistics who ran a large West Bank university, was sworn in on June 6. He had no previous experience in government. An official in the prime minister’s press office said that Mr. Hamdallah had resigned because of a conflict over his authority and responsibilities.

Palestinians with knowledge of the situation said the resignation might have been prompted by power struggles between Mr. Hamdallah and the two deputy prime ministers that Mr. Abbas appointed at the same time: Mohammad Mustafa, the former chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund, who was given special responsibility for the economy; and Ziad Abu Amr, a legislator and former foreign minister, who was to focus on the political arena. Both men are seen as close to the president.

“The troika did not work in the Soviet Union,” Mr. Qaq said, “and it won’t work in Palestine.”

Still, the resignation came as a surprise. One of Mr. Hamdallah’s close friends said that he had spoken on the phone with the prime minister on Thursday morning and that he had “sounded confident” and did not mention any plans to give up his post.

Ghassan Khatib, vice president of Bir Zeit University in the West Bank and a former Palestinian government spokesman, said that Mr. Fayyad’s resignation and his replacement had been accepted by the outside world. “But to have this resignation so soon,” he added, “is very bad for stability, and consequently for the ability of the Palestinian Authority to continue getting the necessary financial and political support for the peace process in the international arena.”

The Palestinian Authority has been in a financial crisis for about two years; Mr. Fayyad had difficulty paying the tens of thousands of government employees their salaries on time.

“It was easier when Fayyad was there,” said Michael Herzog, an Israel-based fellow of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former military official and negotiator. Now, he said, some may be even more reluctant to provide assistance.

But for many Palestinians, Mr. Hamdallah’s resignation offer was a symbol of a much deeper political malaise and exposed the inherent weakness and limitations of an authority that ultimately operates under Israeli occupation.

Increasingly, Palestinians in the West Bank seem to be dismissing their government as a sham. “There is no system,” said Basem Zubeidi, a political science professor at Bir Zeit University. “Everyone knows that there are no ministers, no ministries and no government because they have no real mandate to do anything. There is no authority, there is no money, there is nothing.”