Muhammad Madani

Muhammad Madani, born in 1942, has been a member of Fatah’s Central Committee since 2009. He heads Fatah’s commission for relations with Israel, and the PA's 'Committee for Interaction with Israeli Society'. He has been criticised by Palestinians for facilitating the PA’s ‘normalisation’ with Israel. 

During the 1980s, Madani worked for Fatah’s deputy leader Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad) in organising militant activities against Israel. After returning to the West Bank, he served as the governor of Bethlehem between 2000-20014). During this time, his approach to local power reportedly “alienated virtually everybody [including from the tanzim and local clans] — and [he] was on several occasions threatened by Palestinian gunmen”.

In December 2012, he was appointed as the head of the Committee for Dialogue with Israeli Society, a government initiative that arranges meetings between Israeli civil society and Palestinian officials to build trust between the two sides.