Salam Fayyad
- Born:
- 1952, Dayr al-Ghuṣūn, West Bank (age 72)
Salam Fayyad (born 1952, Dayr al-Ghuṣūn, West Bank) is a Palestinian economist who served as a technocratic prime minister (2007–09, 2009–13) of the Palestinian Authority (PA). He is known for his state-building program as prime minister as well as his role in shoring up the financial management of the PA during his time as finance minister (2002–05; 2007–12).
Fayyad was born in a village near Tulkarm and, after receiving his elementary education in Nablus, moved with his family to Jordan, where he obtained his secondary education. In 1975 Fayyad graduated from the American University of Beirut and later attended St. Edward’s University and the University of Texas, both in Austin, from which he received an M.A. and a Ph.D. degree, respectively. Fayyad worked in banking in Jordan from 1975 to 1979, and from 1983 to 1986 he was a university researcher at the University of Texas and at Yarmouk University in Jordan. In 1987 Fayyad began work as an economist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.; he remained with the World Bank through 1995. He then served as an International Monetary Fund representative to Palestine, a position that based him in Jerusalem. In 2001 he was appointed regional manager of the Arab Bank in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In 2002 Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat named Fayyad finance minister of the PA. In this position he worked to eradicate corruption and enact financial reforms. Fayyad submitted his resignation as finance minister in November 2005 to found the Third Way Bloc with Palestinian educator Hanan Ashrawi. In the parliamentary election of January 2006, the party succeeded in winning two seats. The 2006 elections also saw the Islamic militant group Hamas emerge with a majority, and the tenuous coalition government that Hamas and Fatah were able to secure proved to be short-lived. During the brief period of unity government, Fayyad again served as finance minister, but, with violence between the two groups escalating, PA Pres. Mahmoud Abbas declared a state of emergency and dismissed the government—including the Hamas-affiliated premier Ismail Haniyeh—and appointed an emergency government, with Fayyad as prime minister. Fayyad resigned that post in March 2009 in order to facilitate the creation of a new unity government between Fatah and Hamas, but, when negotiations proved inconclusive, Fayyad was reappointed as prime minister in May. In August 2009 he put forth a plan for Palestinian statehood on behalf of the PA, the first of its kind to be issued by that governing body.
During his tenure as prime minister, Fayyad eschewed confrontation with Israel, pursuing a state-building agenda focused on developing government institutions and creating economic growth in the West Bank. Although this approach made Fayyad popular with Western governments, it failed to attract wide support among Palestinian factions. Fayyad resigned in 2013 amid a financial crisis.