Between 1977 and 1994, Abed Rabbo served as the head of the PLO's Information Department. During the 1980s, Abed Rabbo became closely allied with PLO chairman Yasser Arafat and supported his attempts to negotiate a two-state solution. Arafat appointed him the PLO's representative in the 1988–1990 talks with the United States in Tunis. By then, relations between Abed Rabbo and Hawatmeh deteriorated. The two disagreed about Abed Rabbo's participation in Arafat's diplomacy regarding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the extent of the DFLP's political activities in Jordan, where Hawatmeh was based. Violent clashes between their supporters and Abed formed a separate faction of the DFLP in 1991, although he continued to use the DFLP's name.[4] In 1991, he was a member of the Madrid Peace Delegation.[3]
In 1994, he entered the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories to assume his position in the newly formed Palestinian National Authority. Representing FIDA, he served as the Culture and Arts Minister in Arafat's cabinet between 1994 and 2004.[4] He headed the Palestinian negotiating team in final status peace talks with the Israelis between September 1999 and May 2000, and later took part in the Camp David II Summit in July 2000.[4] Abed Rabbo participated in the 2001 Taba Summit.[3]
Yasser Abed Rabbo at the meeting between Barack Obama and Mahmoud Abbas in 2009
Abed Rabbo served as Minister in several Palestinian Authority cabinets from May 1994 until October 2004.[4] In 2002, he resigned from FIDA after internal disputes. Women's rights activist Zahira Kamal had been chosen in an internal election to replace him as minister in the government of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), but Abed Rabbo refused to step down, and instead left the party. He was able to remain in the cabinet as an independent, with Arafat's backing, but was replaced in FIDA by Saleh Ra'fat, its current Secretary-General.[citation needed]
He also presented several unofficial peace initiatives, widely believed to have had Arafat's blessing, such as the 2003 Geneva Accord.[6] The latter, which he negotiated with Yossi Beilin, was condemned by both the Israelis and Palestinians, the latter of whom particularly condemned Abed Rabbo's alleged relinquishment of the Palestinian refugees' right of return.[4] These initiatives, coupled with his public condemnations of suicide bombing attacks during the Second Intifada, strengthened Abed Rabbo's image as a pro-peace moderate, and he is often presented as a Palestinian "dove".
Abed Rabbo at the swearing in of the new unity government in Ramallah, 2014
After the death of Arafat in 2004, Abed Rabbo was removed from the post of minister in the PNA government by Arafat's successor, Mahmoud Abbas. Pending new elections, he remains on the PLO Executive Committee. As the second most senior member of PLO Executive Committee, Abed Rabbo has been critical of Abbas's governance.[7]
On 30 June 2015, Abed Rabbo was dismissed as Secretary-General of the Executive Committee by Abbas. According to Arab sources, Abbas accused Abed Rabbo of conspiring with Mohammed Dahlan to oust Abbas in a coup. Anonymous Palestinian officials claimed the two had long been at odds over budget allocations and that Abbas viewed Abed Rabbo as a threat to his presidency with financial support from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).[7] According to Nathan Thrall of the International Crisis Group, Abbas was less worried about a coup by Abed Rabbo, but was threatened by Abed Rabbo's perceived alliance with Abbas's rivals Dahlan and former prime minister Salam Fayyad. Abed Rabbo denied links with Dahlan, dismissing rumors of a conspiracy as "hallucinations". He also insists that he was not dismissed from the Executive Committee body. Abed Rabbo was replaced by senior Abbas aide Saeb Erakat.[8]
